NATURAL HISTOUY OF SELBORNE. 
93 
in the south of England, and those that are remarkable for singing in 
the night.* 
According to my proposal^ I shall now proceed to such birds (singing 
birds strictly so called) as continue in full song till after Midsummer ; 
and shall range them somewhat in the order in which they first begin 
to open as the spring advances. 
. 1. Woodlark, 
2. Song-thrusli, 
3. "Wren, 
4. Redbreast, 
5. Hedge-sparrow, 
6. Yellowhammer, 
7. Skylark, 
8. Swallow, 
9. Black -cap, 
10. Titlark, 
11. Blackbird, 
12. Whitethroat, 
13. Goldfinch, 
14. Greenfinch, 
.15. Less reed sparrow, 
16. Common linnet. 
RAII NOMINA. 
Alauda arhorea. 
Turdus simpliciter dictus. 
Passer troglodytes. 
Ruhecula. 
Curruca. 
Emheriza fiava. 
Alauda vulgaris. 
Hirundo domestica. 
Atricapilla. 
Alauda pratorum. 
Merula vulgaris. 
Ficeduloe affinis. 
Carduelis. 
Chloris. 
i Passer arundinaceus 
I minor. 
Linaria vulgaris. 
In January, and continues to 
sing through all the summer 
and autumn. 
In February and on to August ; 
re-assume their song in au- 
tumn. 
f All the year, hard frost ex- 
\ cepted. 
Ditto. 
Early in February to July 10th. 
f Early in February, and on 
( through July to August 21. 
In February, and on to October. 
From April to September. 
Beginning of April to July 13. 
From middle of April to July 16. 
{Sometimes in February and 
March, and so on to July 23 ; 
re-assumes in autumn. 
In April, and on to July 23. 
( April, and through to Septem- 
\ her 16. 
On to July and August 2. 
I May, on to beginning of J uly. 
/Breeds and ' whistles on till 
August ; re -assumes its note 
J when they begin to congre- 
gate in October, and again 
early before the flocks sepa- 
rate. 
* This letter is also devoted to the song of birds, and records various pecu- 
liarities — 
The song or call of birds, like the seasonal changes in the plumage, is undoubtedly 
one of the accessaries to the season of incubation. Some utter notes and call each 
other at all seasons of the year, using them for the purpose of keeping together, or 
for an alarm upon the approach of danger ; but many species have cries peculiar 
to the love season which are used to summon the mate, or uttered as a cry of 
distress when the breeding grounds are invaded, or the young ones in danger. 
These latter calls are lost after this season is finished. The cuckoo loses his well- 
known note, which gradually becomes more inarticulate as the season advances ; 
the jarring saw-like note of the greater and cole titmice ceases after a few months, 
and the curlews in like manner give up their very peculiar breeding whistle ; the 
crakes and rails cease their call, or it becomes hoarse and indistinct. 
The song of birds will commence earlier or later, according as the locality varies. 
As White remarks the missel-thrush is a very early songster, and in Scotland in a 
mild winter we have heard it in January. Those birds which breed more than 
once in the season continue the song longer, but as July approaches there is a very 
marked difierence in the "language of the groves," and as compared with a fine 
morning in April or May they are silent. We think, however, that some of the 
birds included in the first list can scarcely be called " singing birds, strictly." The 
yellow-hammer, and indeed all the buntings have a very mf)notonous note, 
remarkable only for its sameness and frequency of repetition, and one or two others 
have only a short varied call, but which is always repeated the same ; so that 
although White uses the expression of " singing birds, strictly so called," he meant 
the general love-note or call. To the birds that sing as they fly might have been 
