NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 259 



and that the season was soft and stiil ; I was resolved to 

 pay uncommon attention to these late birds ; to find, if 

 possible, where they roosted, and to determine the precise 

 time of their retreat. The mode of life of these latter 

 hirundines is very favourable to such a design ; for they 

 spend the whole day in the sheltered district, between me 

 and the Hanger, sailing about in a placid, easy manner, and 

 feasting on those insects which love to haunt a spot so secure 

 from ruffling winds. As my principal object was to dis- 

 cover the place of their roosting, I took care to wait on 

 them before they retired to rest, and was much pleased to 

 find that for several evenings together, just at a quarter- 

 past five in the afternoon, they all scudded away in great 

 haste towards the south-east, and darted down among the 

 low shrubs above the cottages at the end of the hill. This 

 spot in many respects seemed to be well calculated for their 

 winter residence ; for in many parts it is as steep as the 

 roof of any house, and therefore secure from the annoyances 

 of water ; and it is moreover clothed with beechen shrubs, 

 which, being stunted and bitten by sheep, make the 

 thickest covert imaginable ; and are so entangled as to be 

 impervious to the smallest spaniel ; besides, it is the nature 

 of underwood beech never to cast its leaf all the winter ; so 

 that, with the leaves on the ground and those on the twigs, 

 no shelter can be more complete. I watched them on the 

 13th and 14th October, and found their evening retreat 

 was exact and uniform ; but after this they made no regular 

 appearance, Now and then a straggler was seen ; and on 

 the 22nd October I observed two in the morning over the 

 village, and with them my remarks for the season ended. 



From all these circumstances put together, it is more 

 than probable that this lingering flight, at so late a season 

 of the year, never departed from the island. Had they 



