NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 93 



in the autumn that he killed sixteen himself in one after- 

 noon; he added further, that some had appeared since 

 in every autumn ; but he could not find that any had been 

 observed before the season in which he shot so many. 

 I myself have found these birds in little parties in the 

 autumn cantoned all along the Sussex downs, wherever there 

 were shrubs and bushes, from Chichester to Lewes ; 

 particularly in the autumn of 1770. 



LETTER XXXIX. 



SELBORNE, Nov. 9th t 1773. 



As you desire me to send you such observations as may 

 occur, I take the liberty of making the following remarks, 

 that you may, according as you think me right or wrong, 

 admit or reject what I here advance, in your intended new 

 edition of the British Zoology. 



The osprey was shot about a year ago at Frinsham Pond, 

 a great lake, at about six miles from hence, while it was 

 sitting on the handle of a plough and devouring a fish : it 

 used to precipitate itself into the water, and so take its 

 prey by surprise. 



A great ash-coloured butcher-bird was shot last winter in 

 Tisted Park, and a red-backed butcher-bird [shrike] at 

 Selborne : they are rarce aves in this county. 



Crows go in pairs all the year round. 



Cornish choughs abound, and breed on Beachy Head, and 

 on all the cliffs on the Sussex coast. 



The common wild pigeon, or stock-dove, is a bird of passage 

 in the south of England, seldom appearing till towards the end 



