SELBORNE. 



65 



at least fifty to one. This extraordinary 

 occurrence brought to my mind the remark 

 of Linnceus ; that " before Winter all their 

 hen chaffinches migrate through Holland 

 into Italy,'' Now 1 want to know, from 

 some curious person in the north, whether 

 there are any large flocks of these finches 

 with them in the Winter, and of which sex 

 they mostly consist ? For, from such intel- 

 ligence, one might be able to judge whe- 

 ther our female flocks migrate from the 

 other end of the island, or whether they 

 come over to us from the continent. 



We have, in the Winter, vast flocks of the 

 common linnets ; more, I think, than can 

 be bred in any one district. These, I ob- 

 serve, when the Spring advances, assemble 

 on some tree in the sunshine, and join all 

 in a gentle sort of chirping, as if they were 

 %,bout to break up their winter quarters, and 

 betake themselves to their proper summer 

 homes. It is well known, at least, that the 

 swallows and the fieldfares do congregate 

 with a gentle twittering before they make 

 their respective departure. 



VOL. I. F 



