NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 137 



I did not fail to look particularly after my new migration of 

 ring-ousels ; and to take notice whether they continued on the 

 downs to this season of the year ; as I had formerly remarked 

 them in the month of October all the way from Chichester to 

 Lewes wherever there were any shrubs and covert : but not 

 one bird of this sort came within my observation. I only saw 

 a few larks and whin-chats, some rooks, and several kites and 

 buzzards. 



About midsummer a flight of crossbills comes to the pine 

 groves about this house, but never makes any long stay. 



The old tortoise, that I have mentioned in a former letter, 

 still continues in this garden ; and retired under ground about 

 the 2oth November, and came out again for one day on the 

 3Oth : it lies now buried in a wet swampy border under a wall 

 facing to the south, and is enveloped at present in mud and 

 mire! 



Here is a large rookery round this house, the inhabitants of 

 which seem to get their livelihood very easily ; for they spend 

 the greatest part of the day on their nest-trees when the weather 

 is mild. These rooks retire every evening all the winter from 

 this rookery, where they only call by the way, as they are 

 going to roost in deep woods : at the dawn of day they always 

 revisit their nest-trees, and are preceded a few minutes by a 

 flight of daws, that act, as it were, as their harbingers. 



I am, etc. 



LETTER XVIII 



SELBORNE, Jan. 29^, 1774. 



DEAR SIR, The house-swallow, or chimney-swallow, is un- 

 doubtedly the first comer of all the British hirundines ; and 

 appears in general on or about 1 3th April, as I have remarked 

 from many years' observation. Not but now and then a strag- 

 gler is seen much earlier; and, in particular, when I was a 

 boy I observed a swallow for a whole day together on a sunny 

 warm Shrove Tuesday ; which day could not fall out later than 

 the middle of March, and often happened early in February. 



It is worth remarking that these birds are seen first about 



