SELBORNE, _May 12th_, 1770.
Dear Sir,--Last month we had such a series of cold, turbulent weather,
such a constant succession of frost, and snow, and hail, and tempest,
that the regular migration or appearance of the summer birds was much
interrupted. Some did not show themselves (at least were not heard) till
weeks after their usual time, as the blackcap and whitethroat; and some
have not been heard yet, as the grasshopper-lark and largest willow-wren.
As to the fly-catcher, I have not seen it; it is indeed one of the
latest, but should appear about this time: and yet, amidst all this
meteorous strife and war of the elements, two swallows discovered
themselves, as long ago as April 11th, in frost and snow; but they
withdrew quickly, and were not visible again for many days.
House-martins, which are always more backward than swallows, were not
observed till May came in.
Among the monogamous birds several are to be found, after pairing-time,
single, and of each sex; but whether this state of celibacy is matter of
choice or necessity, is not so easy discoverable. When the
house-sparrows deprive my martins of their nests, as soon as I cause one
to be shot, the other, be it cock or hen, presently procures a mate, and
so for several times following.
I have known a dove-house infested by a pair of white owls which made
great havoc among the young pigeons: one of the owls was shot as soon as
possible, but the survivor readily found a mate, and the mischief went
on. After some time the new pair were both destroyed, and the annoyance
ceased.
Another instance I remember of a sportsman, whose zeal for the increase
of his game being greater than his humanity, after pairing-time he always
shot the cock-bird of every couple of partridges upon his grounds;
supposing that the rivalry of many males interrupted the breed: he used
to say, that, though he had widowed the same hen several times, yet he
found she was still provided with a fresh paramour, that did not take her
away from her usual haunt.
Again; I knew a lover of setting, an old sportsman, who has often told me
that soon after harvest he has frequently taken small coveys of
partridges, consisting of cock-birds alone; these he pleasantly used to
call old bachelors.
There is a propensity belonging to common house-cats that is very
remarkable; I mean their violent fondness for fish, which appears to be
their most favourite food: and yet nature in this instance seems to have
planted in them an appetite that, unassisted, they know not how to
gratify; for of all quadrupeds cats are the least disposed towards water,
and will not, when they can avoid it, deign to wet a foot, much less to
plunge into that element.
Quadrupeds that prey on fish are amphibious: such is the otter, which by
nature is so well formed for diving, that it makes great havoc among the
inhabitants of the waters. Not supposing that we had any of those beasts
in our shallow brooks, I was much pleased to see a male otter, brought to
me, weighing twenty-one pounds, that had been shot on the bank of our
stream below the Priory, where the rivulet divides the parish of Selborne
from Harteley Wood.