166 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



handles of a pair of garden-shears, that were stuck up 

 against the boards in an out-house, and therefore must 

 have her nest spoiled whenever that implement was 

 wanted : and, what is stranger still, another bird of the 

 same species built its nest on the wings and body of an owl, 

 that happened by accident to hang dead and dry from the 

 rafter of a barn. This owl, with the nest on its wings, and 

 with eggs in the nest, was brought as a curiosity worthy 

 the most elegant private museum in Great Britain. The 

 owner, struck with the oddity of the sight, furnished the 

 bringer with a large shell, or conch, desiring him to fix it 

 just where the owl hung : the person did as he was ordered, 

 and the following year a pair, probably the same pair, built 

 their nest in the conch, and laid their eggs. 



The owl and the conch make a strange grotesque 

 appearance, and are not the least curious specimens in that 

 wonderful collection of art and nature. 



Thus is instinct in animals, taken the least out of its 

 way, an undistinguishing, limited faculty ; and blind to 

 every circumstance that does not immediately respect 

 self-preservation, or lead at once to the propagation or 

 support of their species. 



LETTER XIX. 



SELBORNE, Feb. Uth, 1774. 



I RECEIVED your favour of the 8th, and am pleased to find 

 that you read my little history of the swallow with your 

 usual candour : nor was I the less pleased to find that you 

 made objections where you saw reason. 



As to the quotations, it is difficult to say precisely which 



