LETTER III. 



'To the same. 



SELBORNE, Jan. 15/4 1770. 



EAR SIR, It was no small matter of satisfaction 

 to me to find that you were not displeased with 

 my little methodus of birds. If there was any 

 merit in the sketch, it must be owing to its 

 punctuality. For many months I carried a list in 

 my pocket of the birds that were to be remarked, 

 and, as I rode or walked about my business, I 

 noted each day the continuance or omission of each bird's song ; so 

 that I am as sure of the certainty of my facts as a man can be of any 

 transaction whatsoever. 



I shall now proceed to answer the several queries which you put 

 in your two obliging letters, in the best manner that I am able. 

 Perhaps Eastwick, and its environs, where you heard so very few 

 birds, is not a woodland country, and therefore not stocked with 

 such songsters. If you will cast your eye on my last letter, you 

 will find that many species continue to warble after the beginning of 

 July. 



