Chaffinch 



LETTER XIII. 



To the same. 



, January 22nd, 1768. 



IR, As in one of your former letters you 

 expressed the more satisfaction from my 

 correspondence on account of my living in 

 the most southerly county ; so now I may 

 return the compliment, and expect to have 

 my curiosity gratified by your living much 

 more to the north. 

 For many years past I have observed that towards Christ- 

 mas vast flocks of chaffinches have appeared in the fields ; 

 many more, I used to think, than could be hatched in any 

 one neighbourhood. But when I came to observe them 

 more narrowly, I was amazed to find that they seemed to me 

 to be almost all hens. I communicated my suspicions to 

 some intelligent neighbours, who, after taking pains about the 

 matter, declared that they also thought them all mostly 

 females, at least fifty to one. This extraordinary occurrence 



