aurelia of the lepidoptera ordo, which is fastened to the twigs of trees and their trunks; to the pales and walls of gardens and buildings; and is found in every cranny and cleft of rock or rubbish, and even in the ground itself.

Every species of titmouse winters with us; they have what I call a kind of intermediate bill between the hard and the soft, between the Linnæan genera of Fringilla and Motacilla. One species alone spends its whole time in the woods and fields, never retreating for succour in the severest seasons, to houses and neighbourhoods; and that is the delicate longtailed titmouse,* which is almost as minute as the golden-crowned wren: but the blue titmouse, or nun (Parus cæruleus), the cole-mouse (Parus ater), the great black-headed titmouse (Parus fringillago, now major), and the marsh titmouse (Parus palustris), all resort, at times, to buildings; and in hard weather particularly. The great titmouse, driven by stress of weather, much frequents houses, and, in deep snows, I have seen this bird, while it hung with its back downwards (to my no small delight and admiration), draw straws lengthwise from out the eaves of thatched houses, in order to pull out the flies that were concealed between them, and that in such numbers that they quite defaced the thatch, and gave it a ragged appearance.

*The Mufflin or Longtailed-tit, Parus caudatus, Linn. now Mecistura caudata, the smallest of British birds except the Golden-crested Wren. The Tits are five in number:the Great, or Ox-eye tit, Parus major, Linn. here described; the Blue-tit, P. cæruleus; the Cole-tit, P. ater; the Marsh-tit, P. palustris; and the Crested-tit, P. cristatus. They are all little creatures, some of them not more than four inches in length, haunting the woods and nestling in holes and cavities of walls and trees.-ED.

The blue titmouse, or nun, is a great frequenter of houses, and a general devourer. Besides insects, it is very fond of flesh; for it frequently picks bones on dunghills: it is a vast admirer of suet, and haunts butchers' shops. When a boy, I have known twenty in a morning caught with snap mouse-traps, baited with tallow or suet. It will also pick holes in apples left on the ground, and be well entertained with the seeds on the head of a sun-flower. The blue, marsh, and great titmice will, in very severe weather, carry away barley and oat straws from the sides of ricks.

How the wheat-ear and whin-chat support themselves in winter cannot be so easily ascertained, since they spend their time on wild heaths and warrens; the former especially, where there are stone quarries: most probably it is that their maintenance arises from the aurelia of the lepidoptera ordo, which furnish them with a plentiful table in the wilderness.

LETTER LXII.

S the swift or black martin* is the largest of the British hirundines, so is it undoubtedly the latest comer. For I remember but one instance of its appearing before the last week in April: and in some of our late frosty, harsh springs, it has not been seen till the beginning of May. This species usually arrives in pairs.

The swift, like the sand-martin, is very defective in architecture, making no crust, or shell, for its nest; but forming it of dry grasses and feathers, very rudely and inartificially put together. With all my attention to these birds, I have never been able once to discover one in the act of collecting or carrying in materials: so that I have suspected (since their nests are exactly the same) that they sometimes usurp upon the house-sparrows, and expel them, as sparrows do the house and sand-martin;

Cypselus apus, Linnæus, or Hirundo apus, is sometimes classed in the same genus as the swallow; but later naturalists make a separate family, which includes all the swifts, of which M'Gillivray describes two species: the present C. apus and C. melba, the White-bellied Swift.-ED.

well remembering that I have seen them squabbling together at the entrance of their holes; and the sparrows up in arms, and much disconcerted at these intruders. And yet I am assured by a nice observer in such matters, that they do collect feathers for their nests in Andalusia; and that he has shot them with such materials in their mouths.

Swifts, like sand-martins, carry on the business of nidification quite in the dark, in crannies of castles, and towers, and steeples, and upon the tops of the walls of churches under the roof; and therefore cannot be so narrowly watched as those species that build more openly: but, from what I could ever observe, they begin nesting about the middle of May; and I have remarked, from eggs taken, that they have sat hard by the ninth of June. In general they haunt tall buildings, churches, and steeples, and breed only in such yet in this village some pairs frequent the lowest and meanest cottages, and educate their young under those thatched roofs. I remember but one instance where they bred out of buildings; and that was in the sides of a deep chalkpit near the town of Odiham, in this county, where I have seen many pairs entering the crevices, and skimming and squeaking round the precipices.

As I have regarded these amusive birds with no small attention, if I should advance something new and peculiar with respect to them, and different from all other birds, I might perhaps be credited; especially as my assertion is the result of many years exact observation. The fact that I would advance is, that swifts propagate on the wing: and I would wish any nice observer, that is startled at this supposition, to use his own eyes, and I think he will

soon be convinced. In another class of animals, viz. the insect, nothing is so common as to see the different species of many genera in conjunction as they fly. The swift is almost continually on the wing; and as it never settles on the ground, on trees, or roofs, would seldom find opportunity for amorous rites, was it not enabled to indulge them in the air. If any person would watch these birds of a fine morning in May, as they are sailing round at a great height from the ground, he would see, every now and then, one drop on the back of another, and both of them sink down together for many fathoms with a loud piercing shriek.* This I take to be the juncture when the business of generation is carrying on.

As the swift eats, drinks, collects materials for its nest, and, as it seems, propagates on the wing; it appears to live more in the air than any other bird, and to perform all functions there save those of sleeping and incubation.

This hirundo differs widely from its congeners in laying invariably but two eggs at a time, which are milk-white, long, and peaked at the small end; whereas the other species lay at each brood from four to six. It is a most alert bird, rising very early, and retiring to roost very late; and is on the wing in the height of summer at least sixteen hours. In the longest days it does not withdraw to rest till

While admitting the facts as related, M'Gillivray doubts the inference White draws, looking upon them as indications of the hostility of rival males. In dry sunny weather they frequently utter a long loud scream as they pursue their prey; apparently the scream is indicative of the pleasures of the chase. The eggs are two or three, pure white, and elongated, being about an inch long, and a little over halfan-inch in breadth.-ED.