of Selborne 31 



in the walks, many times in the day ; and seemed dis- 

 posed to breed in my outle't; but were frightened and 

 persecuted by idle boys, who would never let them be at 

 rest. 



Three gross-beaks {loxia coccothrausfes) appeared some 

 years ago in my fields, in the winter; one of which I 

 shot : since that, now and then one is occasionally seen 

 in the same dead season. 



A cross-bill {loxia curvirostrd) was killed last year in 

 this neighbourhood. 



Our streams, which are small, and rise only at the end 

 of the village, yield nothing but the bull's head or miller's 

 thumb {gobius fluviatilis capitaius)^ the trout {irutta 

 fluviatilis), the eel {anguilld)^ the lampern {lafjtpcetra 

 parva et fluviatilis), and the stickle-back {pisciculus 

 aculeatus). 



We are twenty miles from the sea, and almost as many 

 from a, great river, and therefore see but little of sea-birds. 

 As to wild fowls, we have a few teams of ducks bred in 

 the moors where the snipes breed ; and multitudes of 

 widgeons and teals in hard weather frequent our lakes in 

 the forest. 



Having some acquaintance with a tame brown owl, I 

 find that it casts up the fur of mice, and the feathers of 

 birds in pellets, after the manner of hawks : when full, 

 like a dog, it hides what it cannot eat. 



The young of the barn-owl are not easily raised, as 

 they want a constant supply of fresh mice : whereas the 

 young of the brown owl will eat indiscriminately all that 

 is brought; snails, rats, kittens, puppies, magpies, and 

 any kind of carrion or offal. 



The house-martins have eggs still, and squab-young. 

 The last swift I observed was about the twenty-first of 

 August ; it was a straggler. 



Red-starts, fly-catchers, white-throats, and reguli non 

 crisiati, still appear ; but I have seen no black-caps lately. 



I forgot to mention that I once saw, in Christ Church 

 College quadrangle in Oxford, on a very sunny warm 

 morning, a house-martin flying about, and settling on the 

 parapet, so late a§ the twentieth of November. 



