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slate very much resemble a powder puffmade 
with the down of the Swan. 
White informs us that a pair of these birds 
bred for a number of years under the eaves of 
Selborne church, and as he paid particular 
attention to the manners of these birds during 
the breeding season (which lasts the summer 
through), the following remarks extracted 
from his history of Selborne may not be un- 
axceptable. " About an hour before sun-set, 
for then the Mice begin to run) they sally 
forth in quest of prey, and hunt all the hedges 
of meadows and small inclosures for them, 
which seem to be their only food. In this 
irregular country we can stand on an emi- 
nence and see them beat the fields over like a 
Setting Dog, and often drop down in the 
grass or corn. I have minuted these birds 
with my watch for an hour together, and 
have found that they return to their nest, one 
or the other of them, about once in five 
minutes ; reflecting at the same time on the: 
adroitness that every animal is possessed of as 
far as regards the well-being of itself and off- 
spring. But a piece of address, which they 
shew when they return loaded, should not, I 
