94 PAIRING OF BIRDS. 



some snags on the edge. The noble owner of 

 the dead moose, proposed to make a skeleton of 

 her bones. 



Please to let me hear if my female moose cor- 

 responds with that which you saw ; and whether 

 you think still that the American moose and Eu- 

 ropean elk are the same creature. 



XXIX. 



LAST month [April] we had such a series of 

 cold turbulent weather, such a constant succession 

 of frost and snow, and hail and tempest, that the 

 regular migration or appearance of the summer 

 birds was much interrupted. Some did not show 

 themselves (at least were not heard) till weeks 

 after their usual time ; as the black-cap and white- 

 throat ; and some have not been heard yet, as the 

 grasshopper-lark and largest willow- wren. As to 

 the fly-catcher, I have not seen it ; it is indeed one 

 of the latest, but should appear about this time ; 

 and yet, amidst all this meteorous strife and war 

 of the elements, two swallows discovered them- 

 selves so long ago as the eleventh of April, in 

 frost and snow ; but they withdrew quickly, and 

 were not visible again for many days. House - 

 martins, which are always more backward than 

 swallows, were not observed till May came in. 



Among the monogamous birds, several are to be 

 found, after pairing time, single, and of each sex ; 

 but whether this state of celibacy is matter of 

 choice or necessity, is not so easily discoverable. 

 When the house- sparrows deprive my martins of 

 their nests, as soon as I cause one to be shot, the 

 other, be it cock or hen, presently procures a mate, 

 and so for several times following. 



