86 FIELDFARES. 



A gentleman sent me lately a fine specimen of 

 the lanius minor cinerascens cum maculd in scapulis 

 albd, Raii; which is a bird that, at the time of your 

 publishing your two first volumes of British Zoo- 

 logy, I find you had not seen. You have described 

 it well from Edwards' s drawing. 



XXVI. 



I WAS much gratified by your communicative 

 letter on your return from Scotland, where you 

 spent, I find, some considerable time, and gave 

 yourself good room to examine the natural curio- 

 sities of that extensive kingdom, both those of the 

 islands, as well as those of the Highlands. The 

 usual bane of such expeditions is hurry ; because 

 men seldom allot themselves half the time they 

 should do ; but, fixing on a day for their return, 

 post from place to place, rather as if they were 

 on a journey that required despatch, than as 

 philosophers investigating the works of nature. 

 You must have made, no doubt, many discoveries, 

 and laid up a good fund of materials for a future 

 edition of the British Zoology, and will have no 

 reason to repent that you have bestowed so much 

 pains on a part of Great Britain that perhaps was 

 never so well examined before. 



It has always been matter of wonder to me, 

 that fieldfares, which are so congenerous to 

 thrushes and blackbirds, should never choose to 

 breed in England : but that they should not think 

 even the Highlands cold and northerly, and 

 sequestered enough, is a circumstance still more 

 strange and wonderful. The ringousel, you find, 

 stays in Scotland the whole year round ; so that we 

 have reason to conclude that those migrators that 



