fame fpecies, which died the fpring before. In the fame garden
was a young flag, or red deer, between whom and this moofe it
was hoped that there might have been a breed; but their inequality
o f height mutt have always been a bar to any commerce of the
'amorous kind. I Ihould have been glad to have examined the
teeth, tongue, lips, hoofs, &c. minutely ; but the putrefaftion
■ 'precluded all farther curiofity. This animal, the keeper told me,
feemed to enjoy itfelf bell in the extreme froft of the former winter.
In the houfe theylhewed methe horn of a male moofe, which had
•no front-antlers, but only a broad palm with fome fnags on the
edge. The noble owner of the dead moofe propofed to make a
ikeleton o f her bones.
Pleafe to let me hear if my female moofe eorrefponds with that
' 'you law; and whether you think Hill that the American moofe and
aEuropean elk are the fame creature. I am,
•With the greateft efteem, &c.
L E T T E R XXIX.
J O TH E S A M E .
D E A R S IR , Selborne, May i t , 1770.
L a s t month we had fuch a feries of cold turbulent weather,
/ fuch a conftant fucceflion of froft, and fnow, and hail, and
tempeft, that the regular migration or appearance of the fummer
birds was much interrupted. Some did not Ihew themfelves (at
leaft
O F \ S E L B O R N E. 81
leaft 'were not heard) till weeks after their ufual time; as tb & black-
cap and white-throat; and-fome have not been heard yet, as the
grafshopper-lark and.largeft willow-wren^ As to the fly-catcher, I have
not Teen it; it ;is indeed one of the lateft, but Ihould appear
about-.-this tithe:, and yet, amidft all this, meteorous-ftrife and.
War of the elements, two fwallows difcovered themfelves as long
ago as" the eleventh of April, in froft and. fnow; but they withdrew
quickly, and were not vifible again for many days,,.. Houfe-;
martins,'which are always more backward than fwallows, were
not obferved till .Mjy.came in.
Among the monogamous birds feveral are to be found, after
pairing-time, lingle, and of each fex : but.whether this ftate of
celibacy is matter of choice or neceffity, is not fo eafily difcover-
able. When the houfe-fparrows. deprive my martins'of th^ir nefts,
as foon. as I caufe one to be Ihot, the other, be it cock or hen,"
prefently procures'a mate, and fo for feveral times following.
I have known a dove-houfe iinfefted by a pair of. white owls,
which made great havock among the young pigeons: one of
the owls, was Ihot as foon as poffible; but the furvivor readily
found a mate, and the mifchief went on. After fome time the
new pair were both deftroyed, and the annoyance ceafed.
Another inftance I remember of a fportfman, whofe zeal for
the increafe of his game being greater than his humanity, after
pairing-time he always Ihot the cock-bird of every couple of
partridges upon his grounds; fuppofing that the rivalry of many
males interrupted the breed : he ufed to fay, that, though he.had
widowed the fame hen feveral times, yet he found; fhe was Hill
provided with a frelh paramour, that did not - take her away
from her ufual haunt.
Again; I knew a lover offetting, an old fportfman, who has
M often
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