OP SELBORNE 



81 



My countrymen talk much of a bird that 

 makes a clatter with its bill against a dead 

 bough, or some old pales, calling it ajar- 

 bird. I procured one to be shot in the very 

 fact ; it proved to be the sitta europcea ( the 

 nuthatch J. Mr. Ray says that the less spot- 

 ted woodpecker does the same. This noise 

 may be heard a furlong or more. 



Now is the only time to ascertain the 

 short-winged Summer birds ; for, when the 

 leaf is out, there is no making any remarks 

 on such a restless tribe ; and^ when once 

 the young begin to appear, it is all confu- 

 sion : there is no distinction of genus, 

 species, or sex. 



In breeding- time snipes play over the 

 moors, piping and humming : they always 

 hum as they are descending. Is not their 

 hum ventriloquous like that of the turkey ? 

 Some suspect it is made by their wings. 



This morning I saw the golden-crowned 

 wren, whose crown glitters like burnished 

 gold. It often hangs like a titmouse, with 

 its back downwards, 



Your's, &c. &c. 



VOL. I. G 



