The natural history of Selborne . ing itself to boundless seas,and that by crossing the water at Dover, and againat Gibraltar. And I with the more confidence ad-vance this obvious remark, because my brother hasalways found that some of his birds, and particu-larly the swallow kind, are very sparing of theirpains in crossing the Mediterranean ; for, when ar-rived at Gibraltar, they do not, Ranged in figure, wedge their way,?* * * » and set forthTheir airy caravan high over seas Flying, and over lands with mutual wing j Easing their flight; Milton, i but scout and hurry along in little detached
The natural history of Selborne . ing itself to boundless seas,and that by crossing the water at Dover, and againat Gibraltar. And I with the more confidence ad-vance this obvious remark, because my brother hasalways found that some of his birds, and particu-larly the swallow kind, are very sparing of theirpains in crossing the Mediterranean ; for, when ar-rived at Gibraltar, they do not, Ranged in figure, wedge their way,?* * * » and set forthTheir airy caravan high over seas Flying, and over lands with mutual wing j Easing their flight; Milton, i but scout and hurry along in little detached partiesof six or seven in a company ; and sweeping low,just over the surface of the land and water, directtheir course to the opposite continent at the nar-rowest passage they can find. They usually slopo \ OP SELBORNE. 171 across the bay to the southwest, and so pass overipposite to Tangier, which, it seems, is the narrow-est space. In former letters we have considered whether itwas probable that Woodcocks in moonshiny nights. cross the German Ocean from Scandinavia. Asa proof that birds of less speed may pass that sea,considerable as it is, I shall relate the following in-cident, which, though mentioned to have happenedso many years ago, was strictly matter of fact:As some people were shooting in the parish otTrotten, in the county of Sussex, they killed a duckin thai dreadful winter 1708-9, with a silver collarabout its neck,* on which were engraven the armsof the King of Denmark. This anecdote the rec-tor of Trotten at that time has often told to a nearrelation of mine; and, to the best of my remem-brance, the collar was in the possession of the rec-tor. At present I do not know anybody near the sea- * I have read a like anecdote of a swan. 172 NATURAL HISTpRY side that will take the trouble to remark at whattime of the moon woodcocks first come : if I livednear the sea myself, I would soon tell you more ofthe matter. One thing I used to observe when Iwas a sportsman, that
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