MIGRATION. 121 



solstitiales, or fern-chaffers. The powers of its wing were 

 wonderful, exceeding, if possible, the various evolutions and 

 quick turns of the swallow genus. But the circumstance that 

 pleased me most was, that I saw it distinctly more than once 

 put out its short leg when on the wing, and, by a bend of 

 the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any 

 part of its prey with its foot, as I have now the greatest reason 

 to suppose it does these chaffers, I no longer wonder at the 

 use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished with a 

 serrated claw. * 



Swallows and martins the bulk of them, I mean have 

 forsaken us sooner this year than usual ; for, on September 

 the 22d, they rendezvoused in a neighbour's walnut tree, 

 where, it seemed probable, they had taken up their lodgings 

 for the night. At the dawn of the day, which was foggy, they 

 rose altogether in infinite numbers, occasioning such a rushing, 

 from the strokes of their wings against the hazy air, as might 

 be heard to a considerable distance : since that, no flock has 

 appeared, only a few stragglers. 



Some swifts staid late, till the 22d of August ; a rare 

 instance I for they usually withdraw within the first week, f 



On September the 24th, three or four ringousels appeared 

 in my fields, for the first time this season. How punctual are 

 these visitors in their autumnal and spring migrations ! 



LETTER XL VIII. 



TO THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON. 



SELBORNE, February 8 f 1772. 



DEAR SIR, When I ride about in winter, and see such 

 prodigious flocks of various kinds of birds, I cannot help 



* The use of the serrated claw of the goat-sucker has occasioned much 

 controversy amongst naturalists within the last few years, but is satis- 

 factorily accounted for by Wilson, in his description of the Carolina night- 

 jar. " Their mouths," says he, " are capable of prodigious expansion, 

 to seize their prey with more certainty, and furnished with long hairs 

 or bristles, serving as palisades to secure what comes between them. 

 Reposing much during the heat of day, they are greatly infested with 

 vermin, particularly about the head, and are provided with a comb on the 

 under edge of the middle claw, with which they are often employed in 

 ridding themselves of these pests, at least when in a state of captivity." 

 ED. 



f See letter XCVII. to the Hon. Daines Barrington. In the Magazine 

 of Natural History, we are informed that swifts were seen at Chipping 

 Norton, on the 27th September, 1830. ED. 



M 



