LETTER XV 1 



TO THE SAME 



1773. 



DEAR SIR, Some young men went down lately to a 

 pond on the verge of Wolmer-Forest to hunt flappers, or 

 young wild-ducks, many of which they caught, and, among 

 the rest, some very minute yet well-fledged wild-fowls alive, 

 which upon examination I found to be teals. 2 I did not 

 know till then that teals ever bred in the south of England, 

 and was much pleased with the discovery : this I look upon 

 as a great stroke in natural history. 3 



We have had, ever since I can remember, a pair of 

 white owls 4 that constantly breed under the eaves of this 

 church. As I have paid good attention to the manner of 

 life of these birds during their season of breeding, which 

 lasts the summer through, the following remarks may not 

 perhaps be unacceptable : About an hour before sunset 

 (for then the mice begin to run) they sally forth in quest 

 of prey, and hunt all round the hedges of meadows and 

 small enclosures for them, which seem to be their only 

 food. In this irregular country we can stand on an emi- 

 nence and see them beat the fields over like a setting-dog, 

 and often drop down in the grass or corn. I have minuted 



1 This letter in the original MS. commences with the observations on the 

 White-throat, Redstart, Black-cap, and Flycatcher, which, in the published work, 

 the author transferred to Letter XL to Pennant. See vol. i. p. 173. [R. B. S.] 



2 See note to vol. i. p. 30. [R. B. S.] 



3 On the nesting of the Teal in Wolmer Forest at the present day, see a very 

 interesting article by Mr. W. H. Hudson in Longmans' Magazine for August 

 1897, PP. 342-353- [R- B. S.] 



4 Strix fiammea. [R. B. S.] 



4 8 



