NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBOHNE. 



LETTEE XXIX. 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE, May llth, 1770. 



DEAR SIR, Last month we had such a series of cold turbulent 

 weather, such a constant succession of frost, and snow, and hail, and 

 tempest, that the regular migration or appearance of the summer birds 

 was much interrupted. Some did not show themselves (at least were 

 not heard) till weeks after their usual time ; as the blackcap and white- 

 throat ; and some have not been heard yet, as the grasshopper-lark and 

 largest willow-wren. As to the fly-catcher, I have not seen it ; it is 

 indeed one of the latest, but should appear about this time : and yet, 

 amidst all this meteorous strife and war of the elements, two swallows 

 discovered themselves as long ago as the eleventh of April, in frost and 

 snow ; but they withdrew quickly, and were not visible again for many 

 days. House-martins, which are always more backward than swallows, 

 were not observed till May came in.* 



Among the monogamous birds several are to be found, after pairing- 

 time, single, and of each sex ; but whether this state of celibacy is 

 matter of choice or necessity, is not so easily discoverable. When the 

 house-sparrows deprive my martins of their nests, as soon as I cause 

 one to be shot, the other, be it cock or hen, presently procures a mate, 

 and so for several times following. 



I have known a dove-house infested by a pair of white owls, which 

 made great havoc among the young pigeons : one of the owls was shot 

 as soon as possible ; but the survivor readily found a mate, and the 

 mischief went on. After some time the new pair were both destroyed, 

 and the annoyance ceased, f 



Another instance I remember of a sportsman, whose zeal for the 

 increase of his game being greater than his humanity, after pairing- 

 time he always shot the cock-bird of every couple of partridges upon 

 his grounds ; supposing that the rivalry of many males interrupted the 

 breed : he used to say, that, though he had widowed the same hen 

 several times, yet he found she was still provided with a fresh paramour, 

 that did not take her away from her usual haunt. 



* Weather such as described has an effect upon the arrival of our summer 

 birds of passage, and we may suppose therefore that where there is no great 

 extent of ocean to cross that the migration takes place gradually ; the birds being 

 delayed as they approached the north for the appearance of genial weather. The 

 present season, 1853, has been such an one as Mr. White describes 1770 to have 

 been ; this year all the migrating species are unusually late and few in numbers. 



t This takes place generally, and in the case of carrion crows, we have known 

 it occur more than once in the same spring. Birds of prey immediately find 

 another mate when any accident happens to one of the pair. The grey-backed 

 or hooded crow, corvus cot-nix, Linn, is a migratoiy species in many parts, and 

 when any accidental circumstances cause one or two birds to remain, they mate 

 in spring with the carrion crow. This instinctive desire for procreation is not 

 however confined to birds, when the male salmon has been killed from his mate 

 on the spawning-bed, his place is immediately supplied by another. 



