OF SELBORNE. 
189 
to the shepherds that take them ; and though many are to 
be seen to my knowledge all the winter through in many 
parts of the south of England. The most intelligent shep- 
herds tell me that some few of these birds appear on the 
downs in March, and then withdraw to breed, probably, in 
warrens and stone- quarries : now and then a nest is 
ploughed up in a fallow on the downs under a furrow, but 
it is thought a rarity. At the time of wheat harvest, they 
begin to be taken in great numbers ; are sent for sale in 
vast quantities to Brighthelmstone and Tunbridge ; and 
appear at the tables of all the gentry that entertain with 
any degree of elegance. About Michaelmas they retire, 
and are seen no more till March. Though these birds are, 
when in season, in great plenty on the South downs round 
Lewes, yet at East-Bourn, which is the eastern extremity 
of those downs, they abound much more. One thing is 
very remarkable — that though in the height of the season 
so many hundreds of dozens are taken, yet they never are 
seen to flock ; and it is a rare thing to see more than three 
or four at a time : so that there must be a perpetual flitting 
and constant progressive succession. It does not appear 
that any wheatears are taken to the westward of Houghton 
Bridge, which stands on the river Arun.^ 
I did not fail to look particularly after my new migration 
of ring-ousels; and to take notice whether they continued 
on the downs to this season of the year ; as I had formerly 
remarked them in the month of October all the way from 
Chichester to Lewes wherever there were any shrubs and 
covert : but not one bird of this sort came within my 
observation. I only saw a few larks and whinchats, some 
rooks, and several kites and buzzards. 
About Midsummer a flight of crossbills comes to the pine- 
groves about this house, but never makes any long stay. 
^ This is a mistake. We have seen them fi'equently in spring on the 
downs above Chichester, and, in autumn, on the low-lying grou . i<3 between 
Bognor and Selsea Bill. Several pairs breed annually on the ^iowns 
near Uppark, in the parish of Harting, which is within a few u>iles of 
the borders of Hants, and not very far from Selborne. This observation 
we have had an opportunity of verifying during the present summer. — Ed. 
