Page:White - The natural history of Selborne, and the naturalist's calendar, 1879.djvu/157

Rh Birds that sing as they fly are but few:

Birds that breed most early in these parts:

All birds that continue in full song till after Midsummer appear to me to breed more than once.

Most kinds of birds seem to me to be wild and shy somewhat in proportion to their bulk; I mean in this island, where they are much pursued and annoyed; but in Ascension Island, and many other desolate places, mariners have found fowls so unacquainted with a human figure, that they would stand still to be taken; as is the case with boobies, etc. As an example of what is advanced, I remark that the golden-crested wren (the smallest British bird) will stand unconcerned till you come within three or four yards of it, while the bustard (Otis), the largest British land fowl, does not care to admit a person within so many furlongs.1

I am, etc.

NOTE TO LETTER II.

1The bustard, once common in several parts of the country, is now almost extinct. Its last abiding place was the fenny part of Norfolk, but the gun and