SELBORNE. 
XV 
It appears, indeed, that about Selborne there is a deflciency 
of wild flowers ; and one might, perhaps, be prepared to expect 
this from the peculiar character of the soil. The grass upon the 
rich pastures contains but few daisies or other plants with con- 
spicuous flowers ; there is little wild convolvolus in the hedges ; 
and the corn lands are very free from weeds. The deficiency of 
plants in point of variety is made up, however, in the vigorous 
growth of those which do occur, and still more by the vast mul- 
titudes of birds. No wonder that White devotes many pages of 
his history to the different members of the swallow tribe ; for at 
the time when these birds assemble, previous to their departure 
for the winter, the house-tops are literally covered, and the air is 
filled with them. A more modern residence, which has been 
erected, we believe, by the nephew of Mr. White, adjoining what 
was White's residence, but appearing more conspicuously to- 
wards the park, has the thatch drilled with nest-holes, till it is 
absolutely like a honey-comb. This modern erection, by the 
way, has most unaccountably fallen under the censure of an 
anonymous visitor of Selborne, whose lucubrations have been 
quoted in " Jesse's Gleanings,^' as being " cocknified,'' we 
believe is the word, and, as such, out of keeping with the 
rest of the village. This is not the case ; for the house alluded 
to is a plain thatched cottage, white-washed certainly, as it 
should be, as it appears among trees, and having some of its 
openings very simply ornamented in a sort of half rustic and 
half Gothic style ; but nothing can harmonize better with its own 
situation than this cottage does, and whether it harmonizes with 
the other buildings of the village or not is a matter of small im- 
portance, because it is not seen from the road, or from any place 
where itself is not the principal object. This is, of course, a 
matter of very trifling importance ; but, as Selborne is a place 
which no one would wish to see spoiled in reality, it is scarcely 
fair to hold up to the world as a deformity that which is a real 
improvement of it. 
One of the most remarkable circumstances about Selborne is 
the absence of springs, which of course arises from the nature of 
the soil. Such perennial springs as there are come out between 
the chalk and the clay, as is the case with those which supply the 
well-head. The clay, even when of the most malmy character, 
admits little water to penetrate it, if it is of any considerable depth j 
