OF S E L B O P. N E. 
LETTER X. 
TO THE SAME. 
DEAR SIR, Seleorne, Aug. I, 1771. 
Prom what follows, it will appear that neither ov/ls nor cuckoos 
keep to one note. A friend remarks that many (mod) of his owls 
hoot in B Hat ; but that one went almoft half a note below A. The 
pipe he tried their notes by was a common half-crown pitch-pipe, 
fuch as mailers ufe for tuning of harplichords ; it was the common 
London pitch. 
A neighbour of mine, who is faid to have a nice ear, remarks 
that the owls about this village hoot in three different keys, in G 
flat, or F fharp, in B flat and A flat. He heard two hooting to 
each other, the one in A flat, and the other in B flat, ^.ery: Do 
thefe different notes proceed from different fpecies, or only from 
various individuals } The fame perfon finds upon trial that the 
note of the cuckoo (of which we have but one fpecies) varies in 
different individuals; for, about Selborne wood, he found they were 
moftly in D : he heard two fmg together, the one in D, the other 
in D fliarp, who made a difagreeable concert : he afterwards heard 
one in D fharp, and about Woolmer-foreft fome in C. As to night- 
ingales, he fays that their notes are fo fhort, and their tranfitions fo 
rapid, that he cannot well afcertain their key. Perhaps in a cage, 
and in a room, their notes may be more diftinguifhable. This per- 
fon has tried to fettle the notes of a fwift, and of feveral other fmall 
birds, but cannot bring them to any criterion^ 
As 
