82 NATURAL HISTORY 



selves (at least were not heard) till weeks after their usual 

 time ; as the black-cap and white-throat; and some have not 

 been heard yet, as the grashopper-lark and largest willow- 

 wren. As to the fly-catcher, I have not seen it ; it is indeed 

 one of the latest, but should appear about this time : and yet, 

 amidst all this meteorous strife and war of the elements, two 

 swallows discovered themselves as long ago as the eleventh of 

 April, in frost and snow ; but they withdrew quickly, and were 

 not visible again for many days. House-martins, which are 

 always more backward than swallows, were not observe^ till 

 May came in. 



Among the monogamous birds several are to be found, after 

 pairing-time, single, and of each sex : but whether this state 

 of celibacy is matter of choice or necessity, is not so easily dis- 

 coverable. When the house-sparrows deprive my martins of 

 their nests, as soon as I cause one to be shot, the other, be it 

 cock or hen, presently procures a mate, and so for several times 

 following. 



I have known a dove-house infested by a pair of white owls, 

 which made great havoc among the young pigeons : one 

 of the owls was shot as soon as possible ; but the survivor 

 readily found a mate, and the mischief went on. After some 

 time the new pair were both destroyed, and the annoyance 

 ceased*. 



Another instance I remember of a sportsman, whose zeal 

 for the increase of his game being greater than his humanity, 

 after pairing-time he always shot the cock-bird of every 

 couple of partridges upon his grounds; supposing that the 

 rivalry of many males interrupted the breed : he used to say, 

 that, though he had widowed the same hen several times, yet 

 he found she was still provided with a fresh paramour, that 

 did not take her away from her usual haunt. 



* [Precisely the same circumstance lias recently occurred in the dove- 

 house belonging to a friend of mine in the neighbourhood of Selborne; 

 and notwithstanding Waterton, in his Essays (1st series, p. 14), expresses 

 his decided opinion to the contrary, I cannot help giving my assent to 

 White's version of the fact, confirmed as it is by the instance just men- 

 tioned. T. B.] 



