NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 85 



ward this distinguished Naturalist to brave the intemperance 

 of every climate ; may also lead him to the discovery of 

 something highly beneficial to mankind ? If he survives, 

 with what delight shall we peruse his Journals, his Fauna, 

 his Flora ? .... if he fails by the way, I shall revere his 

 fortitude, & contempt of pleasures, & indulgences : but 

 shall always regret him, tho' my knowledge of his worth 

 was of late date, & my acquaintance with him but slender.] 

 It is, I find, in zoology as it is in botany: all nature is so 

 full, that that district produces the greatest variety which 

 is the most examined. Several birds, which are said to 

 belong to the north only, are, it seems, often in the south. 

 I have discovered this summer three species of birds with 

 us, which writers mention as only to be seen in the northern 

 counties. The first that was brought me (on the i4th of 

 May] was the sandpiper, tringa hypoleucus : it was a cock 

 bird, and haunted the banks of some ponds near the village ; 

 and, as it had a companion, doubtless intended to have 

 bred near that water. 1 Besides, the owner has told me 



1 This it would not have done, the neighbourhood of Selborne being quite 

 different from the more northern moorland haunts which the Common Sandpiper 

 affects during the breeding-season. In the spring migrations, however, the Sand- 

 piper visits the ponds and lakes of Hampshire on its passage northward, and at 

 Avington Park I have seen several individuals of this species on the great lake in 

 May, but I never saw one in the autumn, when the Sandpiper appears to travel 

 south in family parties along the rivers, or else by the coast-lines. On the banks 

 of the Thames they are seen singly or in pairs in the spring, and are rare ; whereas 

 in autumn they are rather common, being met with in little parties on the sandy 

 banks such as those between Cookham and Marlow, according to my own 

 experience. In the mud-flats of the south coast they are generally seen singly, 

 frequenting the ditches between the mud-banks as the tide recedes. There are 

 always plenty of them about, so that they may belong to the same family party. 



Professor Bell (ed. " Selborne," vol. i. p. 59 note) says that in July 1860 (a some- 

 what early date for the return journey of the species ; the day of the month is 

 unfortunately not given) a Common Sandpiper was shot on the mill-stream and 

 brought to him. He also mentions a Green Sandpiper (Melodramas ochropus) as 

 having been shot in August 1858. This specimen is now in the Alton Museum. 

 A Spotted Redshank, changing from summer to winter plumage, was shot at 

 Oakhanger on August 30, 1851. This specimen was also presented to the Alton 

 Museum. Gilbert White also mentions the shooting of a Green Sandpiper in 

 August 1769, as appears in the hitherto unpublished portion of Letter XXV 

 (postea, p. lio). [R. B. S.] 



