NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 37 



concert : he afterwards heard one in D sharp, and about 

 Wolmer forest some in C. As to nightingales, he says 

 that their notes are so short, and their transitions so rapid, 

 that he cannot well ascertain their key. Perhaps in a cage, 

 and in a room, their notes may be more distinguishable. 

 This person has tried to settle the notes of a swift, and of 

 several other small birds, but cannot bring them to any 

 criterion. 



As I have often remarked that redwings are some of the 

 first birds that suffer with us in severe weather, it is no 

 wonder at all that they retreat from Scandinavian winters : 

 and much more the ordo of grallce, who, all to a bird, 

 forsake the northern parts of Europe at the approach of 

 winter. " Grallce tanquam conjuratce unanimiter in fugam 

 se conjiciunt ; ne earam unicam quidem inter nos habitantem 

 invenire possimus ; ut enim (Estate in australibus degere ne- 

 queunt ob defectum lumbricorum, terramque siccam ; ita nee in 

 frigidis ob eandem causam" says Ekmarck the Swede, in his 

 ingenious little treatise called " Migrationes Avium," which 

 by all means you ought to read while your thoughts run 

 on the subject of migration. See " Amomitates Aca- 

 demicce" vol. iv., p. 565. 



Birds may be so circumstanced as to be obliged to 

 migrate in one country, and not in another : but the grallce 

 (which procure their food from marshy and boggy grounds), 

 must in winter forsake the more northerly parts of Europe, 

 or perish for want of food. 



I am glad you are making inquiries from Linnceus con- 

 cerning the woodcock : it is expected of him that he should 

 be able to account for the motions and manner of life of 

 the animals of his own Fauna. 



Faunists, as you observe, are too apt to acquiesce in 

 bare descriptions, and a few synonyms : the reason is 

 plain ; because all that may be done at home in a man's 

 study, but the investigation of the life and conversation of 

 animals is a concern of much more trouble and difficulty, 

 and is not to be attained but by the active and inquisitive, 

 and by those that reside much in the country. 



