XXI.] 
OF SELBORNE. 
67 
which visit us. You will be sure, I hope, not to omit to make 
inquiry whether your ring-ousels leave your rocks in the autumn. 
What puzzles me most is the very short stay they make with 
us ; for in about three weeks they are all gone. I shall be very 
curious to remark whether they will call on us at their return in 
the spring, as they did last year. 
I want to be better informed with regard to icthyology. If 
fortune had settled me near the sea-side, or near some great 
river, my natural propensity would soon have urged me to have 
made myself acquainted with their productions : but as 1 have 
lived mostly in inland parts, and in an upland district, my 
knowledge of fishes extends little farther than to those common 
sorts which our brooks and lakes produce. 
Selborne, Nov. 28, 1768. 
