MIGRATION. 31 



An observing gentleman in London writes me word, that he 

 saw a house-marten, on the 23d of last October, flying in and 

 out of its nest in the Borough ; and I myself, on the 29th of last 

 October, (as I was travelling through Oxford,) saw four or five 

 swallows hovering round and settling on the roof of the County 

 Hospital. 



Now, is it likely that these poor little birds (which, perhaps, 

 had not been hatched but a few weeks) should, at that late 

 season of the year, and from so midland a county, attempt a 

 voyage to Goree or Senegal, almost as far as the equator?* 



I acquiesce entirely in your opinion, that, though most of 

 the swallow kind may migrate, yet some do stay behind and 

 hide with us during the winter. 



As to the short-winged soft-billed birds, which come trooping 

 in such numbers in the spring, I am at a loss even what to 

 suspect about them. I watched them narrowly this year, and 

 saw them abound till about Michaelmas, when they appeared 

 no longer. Subsist they cannot openly among us, and yet 

 elude the eyes of the inquisitive ; and as to their hiding, no 

 man pretends to have found any of them in a torpid state in 

 the winter. But with regard to their migration, what difficulties 

 attend that supposition ! that such feeble bad fliers (who the 

 summer long never flit but from hedge to hedge) should be 

 able to traverse vast seas and continents, in order to enjoy 

 milder seasons amidst the regions of Africa! 



LETTER XIII. 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ. 



SELBORNE, January 22, 1768. 



As, in one of your former letters, you expressed the more 

 satisfaction from my correspondence on account of my living 

 in the most southerly county ; so now I may return the com- 

 pliment, and expect to have my curiosity gratified by your 

 living much more to the north. 



For many years past I have observed that, towards Christmas, 

 vast flocks of chaffinches have appeared in the fields many 

 more, I used to think, than could be hatched in any one 



situations, therefore, the sun can have no influence ; and what else would 

 call forth the dormant organs of these birds into action? It is but 

 reasonable to conclude that cold, which kept them benumbed by its 

 sleepy torpor, would evidently perpetuate their slumbers. ED. 

 * See Adanson's Voyage to Senegal. 



