80 
NATURAL HISTORY 
than elsewhere : is it owing to the vast massy buildings of 
that place, to the many waters round it, or to what else ? 
When I used to rise in a morning last autumn, and see 
the swallows and martins clustering on the chimneys and 
thatch of the neighbouring cottages, I could not help being 
touched with a secret delight, mixed with some degree of 
mortification ; with delight to observe with how much ardour 
and punctuality those poor little birds obeyed the strong 
impulse towards migration, or hiding, imprinted on their 
minds by their great Creator ; and with some degree of 
mortification, when I reflect that, after all our pains and in- 
quiries, we are yet not quite certain to what regions they 
do migrate ;^ and are still farther embarrassed to find that 
some do not actually migrate at all. 
These reflections made so strong an impression on my 
imagination, that they became productive of a composition 
that may perhaps amuse you for a quarter of an hour when 
next I have the honour of writing to you. 
LETTER XXIY. 
TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE. 
Selborne, May 29, 1769. 
HE Scarahceus fullo^ I know very well, 
having seen it in collections; but have 
never been able to discover one wild in its 
natural state. Mr. Banks told me he 
thought it might be found on the seacoast.'^ 
On the 13th of April, I went to the sheep-down, where 
^ The winter haunts of the swallows are now well known to naturalists. 
See an article on swallows, in continuation of a series on " Our Summer 
Migrants," published by the writer in the "Field" of October I4th 
and October 21st, 1871, in which a detailed reply is given to the 
inquiries, "What do swallows feed upon?" and "Where do the 
swallows go in winter?" — Ed. 
2 Melolontha fuUo^ Fabr. an insect of the same genus as the better 
known cock-chafer Melolontha vulgaris. 
3 Mr. Bennett has remarked that all the specimens of this fme chafer 
that have yet been captured in England, and they are very far from numcr- 
