102 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 



thatch of the neighbouring cottages, I could not help being 

 touched with a secret delight, mixed with some degree of 

 mortification : with delight, to observe with how much 

 ardour and punctuality those poor little birds obeyed the 

 strong impulse towards migration, or hiding, 1 imprinted 

 on their minds by their great Creator ; and with some 

 degree of mortification, when I reflected that, after all our 

 pains and inquiries, we are yet not quite certain to what 

 regions they do migrate ; z and are still farther embarrassed 

 to find that some do not actually migrate at all. 



These reflections made so strong an impression on my 

 imagination, that they became productive of a composition 

 that may perhaps amuse you for a quarter of an hour 

 when next I have the honour of writing to you. 

 [I am, with the greatest esteem, 



Y r obliged & humble servant, 

 GIL : WHITE.] 



feathers and twitter incessantly, while numbers would perch on the gutters and 

 indulge in a bath. I have already spoken of the way in which the Swallows 

 haunt the reed-beds of the Thames and the marsh-lands of the southern coasts in 

 thousands before the autumn flight takes place. [R. B. S.] 



1 That Gilbert White entertained a qualified belief in the hibernation of 

 Swallows is evident throughout his writings. He certainly maintained an open 

 mind on the subject, not liking entirely to reject some ol the evidence brought to 

 his knowledge. As recently as 1 896 a very striking instance of the occurrence of 

 two Swallows in Yorkshire in the winter of 1895-96 was recorded by Dr. Frank 

 Penrose in the " Bulletin " of the British Ornithologists' Club (vol. vi. pp. xviii. 

 xix.) The occurrence is vouched for by the Rev. T. Powell, Vicar of Healey 

 [R. B. S.] 



2 If Gilbert White had lived in the present day, his doubts as to the migration 

 of the British Swallows and their winter homes would have been set at rest. The 

 Common Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is found abundantly in tropical Africa during 

 our cold season, and reaches to the Cape Colony, while the House-Martin 

 (Chelidon urbica) and the Sand-Martin (Clivicola riparia} have been found in 

 the Transvaal and Rhodesia. [R. B. S.] 



