OF SELBORNE 43 



even what to suspect about them. I watched them 

 narrowly this year, and saw them abound till about 

 Michaelmas, when they appeared no longer. Subsist 

 they cannot openly among us, and yet elude the eyes of 

 the inquisitive : and, as to their hiding, no man pretends 

 to have found any of them in a torpid state in the winter. 

 But with regard to their migration, what difficulties attend 

 that supposition 1 that such feeble bad fliers (who the 

 summer long never flit but from hedge to hedge) should 

 be able to traverse vast seas and continents in order to 

 enjoy milder seasons amidst the regions of Africa ! 



LEITER XIII 



Selborne, Jan. 22, 1768. 



Sir, 

 As in one of your former letters you expressed the 

 more satisfaction from my correspondence on account of 

 my living in the most southerly county ; so now I may 

 return the compliment, and expect to have my curiosity 

 gratified by your living much more to the north. 



For many years past I have observed that towards 

 Christmas vast flocks of chaffinches have appeared in 

 the fields ; many more, I used to think, than could be 

 hatched in any one neighbourhood. But, when I came 

 to observe them more narrowly, I was amazed to find 

 that they seemed to be almost all hens. I communicated 

 my suspicions to some intelligent neighbours, who, after 

 taking pains about the matter, declared that they also 

 thought them all mostly females ; at least fifty to one. 

 This extraordinary occurrence brought to my mind the 

 remark of Linnaeus ; that " before winter, all their hen 

 chaffinches migrate through Holland into Italy." Now I 



