OF SELBORNE 149 



ment, an anecdote or two not much in favour of her 

 sagacity : — 



A certain swallow built for two years together on the 

 handles of a pair of garden-shears, that were stuck up 

 against the boards in an out-house, and therefore must 

 have her nest spoiled whenever that implement was wanted : 

 and, what is stranger still, another bird of the same species 

 built its nest on the wings and body of an owl that 

 happened by accident to hang dead and dry from the 

 rafter of a barn. This owl, with the nest on its wings, and 

 with eggs in the nest, was brought as a curiosity worthy 

 the most elegant private museum in Great-Britain. The 

 owner, struck with the oddity of the sight, furnished the 

 bringer with a large shell, or conch, desiring him to fix it 

 just where the owl hung: the person did as he was ordered, 

 and the following year a pair, probably the same pair, 

 built their nest in the conch, and laid their eggs. 



The owl and the conch make a strange grotesque 

 appearance, and are not the least curious specimens in 

 that wonderful collection of art and nature.* 



Thus is instinct in animals, taken the least out of its 

 way, an undistinguishing, limited faculty ; and blind to 

 every circumstance that does not immediately respect self- 

 preservation, or lead at once to the propagation or support 

 of their species. y 



With all respect, etc. etc. 



LETTER XIX 



TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES HARRINGTON 



Selborne, Feb. 14, 1774. 

 Dear Sir, 

 I RECEIVED your favour of the eighth, and am pleased to 

 find that you read my little history of the swallow with 

 1 Sir Ashton Lever's Museum. 



