wrong from repeated observation this summer ; for 

 house-martins do feed their young flying, though it 

 must be acknowledged not so commonly as the 

 house-swallow ; and the feat is done in so quick a 

 manner as not to be perceptible to indifferent 

 observers. He also advances some (1 was going 

 to say) improbable facts ; as when he says of the 

 woodcock that, " as it flies from its enemies, it car- 

 ries its young in its beak : " '* puUos rostro portat 

 fugiens ab hoste." But candour forbids me to say 

 absolutely that any fact is false because 1 have never 

 been witness to such a fact. I have only to remark, 

 that the long unwieldy bill of the woodcock is per- 

 haps the worst adapted of any among the winged 

 creation for such a feat of natural affection. 



Selborne, Sepf. 14, 1770. 



LETTER XXXVIII. 



To THE Honourable Daines Barrington. 



I AM glad to hear that Kuckahn is to furnish you 

 with the birds of Jamaica; a sight of the hirimdines 

 of that hot and distant island would be a great en- 

 tertainment to me. 



The *' Anni " of Scopoli are now in my posses- 

 sion ; and I have read the *' Annus Primus " with 



satisfaction ; for though some parts of this work are 



142 



