OF SELBORNE. 179 



I recollect that you requested stricture and 

 anecdote, hope you will pardon the didactic 

 manner for the sake of the information it 

 may happen to contain. 



LETTER XLI. 



TO THE SAME. 



It is matter of curious inquiry to trace 

 out how those species of soft-billed birds, 

 that continue with us the Winter through, 

 subsist during the dead months. The im- 

 becility of birds seems not to be the only 

 reason why they shun the rigour of our 

 Winters ; for the robust lory-neck (so much 

 resembling the hardy race of wood-peckers) 

 migrates, while the feeble little golden- 

 crowned wren, that shadow of a bird, braves 

 our severest frosts without availing himself 

 of houses or villages, to which most of our 

 Winter-birds crowd in distressful seasons, 



N 2 



