O F S E L B O R N E. 273 
fteep as the roof of any houfe, and therefore fecure from the 
annoyances of water ; and it is moreover clothed with beechen 
flirubs, which, being ftunted and bitten by Iheep, make the thickeft 
covert imaginable ; and are fo entangled as to be impervious to 
the fmallefl fpaniel : befides, it is the nature of underwood beech 
never to caft it's leaf all the winter ; fo that, with the leaves on 
the ground and thofe on the twigs, no fhelter can be more com- 
plete. I watched them on to the thirteenth and fourteenth of 
Otiober, and found their evening retreat was exacfl and uniform ; 
but after this they made no regular appearance. Now and then 
a ftraggler v/as feen ; and, on the twenty-fecond of O^ober, I obferved 
two in the morning over the village, and with them my remarks 
for the fcafon ended. 
From all thcfe circumfhances put together, it is more than pro- 
bable that this lingering flight, at fo late a feafon of the year, never 
departed from the illand. Had they indulged me that autumn 
with a November vifit, as I much defired, I prefume that, with 
proper affiftants, I fhould have fettled the matter paft all doubt ; 
but though the third of November v/as a fweet day, and in appear- 
ance exadly fuited to my wifhes, yet not a martin was to be feen ; 
and fo I was forced, reludantly, to give up the purfuir. 
I have only to add that were the bulhes, which cover fome 
acres, and are not my own property, to be grubbed and carefully 
examined, probably thofe late broods, and perhaps the whole 
aggregate body of the houfe-martins of this diftridl, might be 
found there, in dlfFerenL fecret dormitories; and that, fo far from 
withdrawing into warmer climes, it would appear that they never 
depart three hundred yards from the village. 
LETTER 
