OF SELBORNE. 137 



I have known a dove-house infested by a pair of 

 white owls, which made great havock 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 l he always shot the cock 

 bird of every couple of partridges upon his grounds ; 

 supposing that the rivalry of many males 2 interrupted 

 the breed : he used to say, that, though he had widowed 



1 The very beautiful, one may almost say poetical way, in which the 

 male bird procures a mate by the power of his song, may be seen in the 

 preface to Mr. Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, p. xxx. ; from which 

 this corollary may be inferred, that if a confined bird had learned the 

 song of another, without retaining any part of its natural notes, and was 

 set at liberty, it is probable, that it would never find a mate of its own. 

 MITVORD. 



2 Mr. Montagu has observed that some birds exert themselves in 

 rivalry of singing, as a mode of wooing the female. I think I have some 

 reason to believe that the cocks very much predominate in number over 

 the females, amongst the birds which are the most ardent songsters ; and 

 the females are most numerous amongst those which have vocal powers, 

 but are sluggish in using them. Two of the most ardent songsters we 

 have are the nightingale and the whitethroat : the whitethroat, whose 

 song Mr. White strangely undervalues, appears to exert itself to the 

 utmost, and perpetually. I have found the cocks very prevalent amongst 

 the young of these two species. Indeed of seven whitethroats reared 

 from the nest within the last few years, the whole number proved to be 

 cocks. A nest of nightingales which I reared contained only cocks. 

 On the other hand, of seventeen young whin chats only three were cocks, 

 and I think the general average is quite as much in favour of the females. 

 The whin chat reared under other birds will learn to sing from all, but 

 in its wild state it seldom sings continuously or with variety. The 

 males and females seem pretty equally divided in the nests of blackcaps; 

 and they, though perpetually singing, are lazy, and rarely exert them- 

 selves to vary their strain as much as they are able to do. The bird- 

 catchers reckon, when they take a cock nightingale which has a mate, 

 that if they leave the hen she will have another mate in a few days, and 

 sometimes they take five or six successive husbands from one female. 

 Having taken a young stone chat, and caught the old cock which 

 belonged to the brood, I found, three days after, that the hen had pro- 

 vided herself with another mate, and he was just as solicitous about the 

 young as their own father had been. W. H. 



