1 1 8 T*he Natural History of Selborne 



easily discoverable. 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. 



Again ; I knew a lover of setting, an old sportsman, who 

 has often told me that soon after harvest he has frequently 

 taken small coveys of partridges, consisting of cock birds 

 alone; these he pleasantly used to call old bachelors. 



There is a propensity belonging to common house-cats that 

 is very remarkable; I mean their violent fondness for fish, 

 which appears to be their most favourite food : and yet nature 

 in this instance seems to have planted in them an appetite 

 that, unassisted, they know not how to gratify : for of all quad- 

 rupeds cats are the least disposed towards water; and will 

 not, when they can avoid it, deign to wet a foot, much less to 

 plunge into that element. 



Quadrupeds that prey on fish are amphibious : such is the 

 otter, which by nature is so well formed for diving that it 

 makes great havoc among the inhabitants of the waters. Not 

 supposing that we had any of those beasts in our shallow 

 brooks, I was much pleased to see a male otter brought to 

 me, weighing twenty-one pounds, that had been shot on the 

 bank of our stream below the Priory, where the rivulet divides 

 the parish of Selborne from Harteley Wood. 



