124 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE., 
LETTER X. 
SELBORNE, Aug. rst, 1771. 
From what follows, it will appear that neither owls nor 
cuckoos keep to one note. A friend remarks that many 
(most) of his owls hoot in B flat; but that one went almost 
half a note below A. The pipe he tried their notes by was a 
common half-crown pitch-pipe, such as masters use for tuning 
of harpsichords ; it was the common London pitch. 
A neighbor of mine, who is said to have a nice ear, remarks 
that the owls about this village hoot in three different keys, in 
G flat or F sharp, in B flat, and A flat. He heard two hooting 
to each other, the one in A flat, and the other in B flat. Query: 
Do these different notes proceed from different species, or 
only from various individuals? ‘The same person finds upon 
trial that the note of the cuckoo (of which we have but one 
species) varies in different individuals; for, about Selborne 
Wood, he found they were mostly in D: he heard two sing 
together, the one in D, the other in D sharp, who made a 
disagreeable concert ; he afterwards heard one in D sharp, and 
about Wolmer Forest some in C. As to nightingales, he says 
that their notes are so short, and their transitions so rapid, 
that he cannot well ascertain their key. Perhaps in a cage, 
and in a room, their notes may be more distinguishable. This 
person has tried-to settle the notes of a swift, and of several 
other small birds, but cannot bring them to any criterion. 
As I have often remarked that redwings are some of the 
first birds that suffer with us in severe weather, it is no wonder 
at all that they retreat from Scandinavian winters: and much 
more the order of Grade, who, all to a bird, forsake the 
northern parts of Europe at the approach of winter. “ The 
Gralla, \ike conspirators, take unanimously to flight; so that 
we are not able to find a single one left; for as they are not 
able to live in the south during the summer on account of the 
