OF SELBORNE. 237 



but scout and hurry along in little detached 

 parties of six or seven in a company ; and 

 sweeping low, just over the surface of the 

 land and water, direct their course to the 

 opposite continent at the narrowest passage 

 they can find. They usually slope across 

 the bay to the south-west, and so pass over 

 opposite to Tangier, which, it seems, is the 

 narrowest space. 



In former letters we have considered 

 whether it was probable that woodcocks in 

 moon-shiny nights cross the German ocean 

 from Scandinavia. As a proof that birds of 

 less speed may pass that sea, considerable 

 as it is, I shall relate the following incident, 

 which, though mentioned to have hap- 

 pened so many years ago, was strictly mat- 

 ter of fact : — As some people were shooting 

 in the parish of Trotten, in the county of 

 Sussex, they killed a duck in that dreadful 

 Winter 1708-9, with a silver collar about 

 its neck,* on which were engraven the 

 arms of the king of Denmark. This anec- 



* I have read a like anecdote of a swan. 



