Three grossbeaks (loxia coccothraustes) appeared, some years ago, in my fields, in the winter; one of which I shot. Since that, now and then one is occasionally seen in the same dead season. *

A crossbill (loxia curvirostra) was killed last year in this. neighbourhood.t

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Our streams, which are small, and rise only at the end of the village, yield nothing but the bull's-head, or miller's-thumb, (gobius fluviatilis capitatus,) the trout, (trutta fluviatilis,) the eel, (anguilla,) the lampern, (lampætra parva et fluviatilis,) and the stickleback, (pisciculus aculeatus.‡)

says,

* This is the hawfinch of British naturalists; the fringilla coccothraustes of Temminck; and is only an occasional autumnal visitant, continuing with us till the month of April. It seldom visits the northern counties. There is, however, one instance recorded by T. F. of London, in the first volume of the Magazine of Natural History, p. 374. He "On the 14th May, 1828, the nest of a hawfinch was taken in an orchard belonging to Mr Waring, at Chelsfield, Kent. The old female was shot on the nest, which was of a slovenly, loose form, and shallow, not being so deep as those of the greenfinch or linnet, and was placed against the large bough of an apple tree, about ten feet from the ground. It was composed externally of dead twigs and a few roots, mixed with coarse white moss, or lichen, and lined with horse hair and a little fine, dried grass. The eggs were five in number, about the size of a skylark's, but shorter and rounder, and spotted with bluish ash and olive brown, some of the spots inclining to dusky, or blackish brown. The markings were variously distributed on the different eggs.' It is a native of Italy, Germany, Sweden, and South of France.. .ED.

+ The crossbill is only an occasional visitant in Britain, and generally appear in large flocks. Mr Selby mentions that, in June, 1821, a vast number visited Britain, and spread themselves through the country in all places where fir trees were abundant, the cones of which being their principal food. These consisted chiefly of females. A pretty large flock made its appearance in the neighbourhood of Ambleside, Westmoreland, in November, 1828. Their favourite haunt was a plantation of young larches. The crossbill is a native of Northern Europe. -ED.

There are five species of sticklebacks inhabiting the British streams, three of which were discovered by Mr Yarrell. In the Magazine of Natural History, we have a curious account of the pugnacious propensities of these little animals. "Having, at various times," says a correspondent, "kept these little fish during the spring, and part of the summer months, and paid close attention to their habits, I am enabled, from my own experience, to vouch for the facts I am about to relate. I have generally kept them in a deal tub, about three feet two inches wide, and about two feet deep. When they are put in, for some time, probably a day or two, they swim about in a shoal, apparently exploring their new habitation. Suddenly one will take possession of the tub, or, as it will sometimes happen, the bottom, and will instantly commence an attack upon his companions; and, if any of them venture to oppose his sway, a regular and most furious battle ensues. They swim round and round,

We are twenty miles from the sea, and almost as many from a great river; and, therefore, see but little of sea birds. As to wild fowls, we have a few teams of ducks, bred in the moors where the snipes breed; and multitudes of widgeons and teals, in hard weather, frequent our lakes in the forest.

Having some acquaintance with a tame brown owl, I find that it casts up the fur of mice, and the feathers of birds, in pellets, after the manner of hawks; when full, like a dog, it hides what it cannot eat.

The young of the barn owl are not easily raised, as they want a constant supply of fresh mice; whereas the young of the brown owl will eat indiscriminately all that is brought; snails, rats, kittens, puppies, magpies, and any kind of carrion or offal.

The house-martens have eggs still, and squab young. The last swift I observed was about the 21st of August; it was a straggler.

Redstarts, flycatchers, white-throats, and reguli non cristati, still appear; but I have seen no black-caps lately.

I forgot to mention, that I once saw, in Christ Church College quadrangle, in Oxford, on a very sunny, warm morning, a house-marten flying about, and settling on the parapet, so late as the 20th of November.

At present, I know only two species of bats, the common vespertilio murinus and the vespertilio auribus.*

each with the greatest rapidity; biting, (their mouths being well furnished with teeth,) and endeavouring to pierce each other with their lateral spines, which, on these occasions, are projected. I have witnessed a battle of this sort, which lasted several minutes before either would give way; and, when one does submit, imagination can hardly conceive the vindictive fury of the conqueror, who, in the most persevering and unrelenting way, chases his rival from one part of the tub to another, until fairly exhausted. with fatigue. From this period an interesting change takes place in the conqueror, who, from being a speckled and greenish looking fish, assumes the most beautiful colours; the belly and lower jaws becoming a deep crimson, and the back sometimes a cream colour, but generally a fine green; and the whole appearance full of animation and spirit. I have occasionally known three or four parts of the tub taken possession of by these little tyrants, who guard their territories with the strictest.vigilance, and the slightest invasion brings on invariably a battle. A strange alteration immediately takes place in the defeated party: his gallant bearing forsakes him; his gay colours fade away; he becomes again speckled and ugly; and he hides his disgrace among his peaceable companions.' the male fish only which are so pugnacious.

.ED.

It is

* Seven species of bats have now been ascertained; namely, the horse-shoe bat, (rhinolophus ferrum-equinum of Geoffroy,) discovered by Colonel Montagu, in caverns, at. Torquay, Devonshire; the lesser

I was much entertained last summer with a tame bat, which would take flies out of a person's hand. If you gave it any thing to eat, it brought its wings round before the mouth, hovering and hiding its head in the manner of birds of prey when they feed. The adroitness it shewed in shearing off the wings of the flies, which were always rejected, was worthy of observation, and pleased me much. Insects seemed to be most acceptable, though it did not refuse raw flesh when offered so that the notion, that bats go down chimneys and gnaw men's bacon, seems no improbable story. While I amused myself with this wonderful quadruped, I saw it several times confute the vulgar opinion, that bats, when down on a flat surface, cannot get on the wing again, by rising with great ease from the floor. It ran, I observed, with more despatch than I was aware of; but in a most ridiculous and grotesque manner.

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Bats drink on the wing, like swallows, by sipping the surface, as they play over pools and streams. They love to frequent waters, not only for the sake of drinking, but on account of insects, which are found over them in the greatest plenty. As I was going some years ago, pretty late, in a boat from Richmond to Sunbury, on a warm summer's evening, I think I saw myriads of bats between the two places; the air swarmed with them all along the Thames, so that hundreds were in sight at a time.

LETTER XII.

TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ.

November 4, 1767.

Ir gave me no small satisfaction to hear that the falco* turned out an uncommon one. I must confess I should have been better pleased to have heard that I had sent you a bird. that you had never seen before; but that, I find, would be a difficult task.

horse-shoe bat, (r. hipposideros,) discovered by the same gentleman in Wiltshire and Devonshire; the common bat, the emarginated bat, (vespertilio emarginatus,) discovered by Dr Fleming in Fife; the great bat, (v. noctula,) of our author; the eared bat, (plecotus auritus,) of Pennant; and the barbed bat, (p. barbastellus,) found in Devonshire by Colonel Montagu, and at Dartford, in Kent, by Mr Peel. - ED.

Mr John Greig, author of the Heavens Displayed, &c. saw a bat flying about in February, in England, during a very hard frost and deep snow. ED.

*This hawk proved to be the falco peregrinus — a variety.