Let me add also that it has
shown near half the species that were ever known in Great
Britain.*
(* Sweden, 221; Great Britain, 252 species.)
On a retrospect, I observe that my long letter carries with it a
quaint and magisterial air, and is very sententious: but, when I
recollect that you requested stricture and anecdote, I hope you will
pardon the didactic manner for the sake of the information it may
happen to contain.
Letter XLI
To Thomas Pennant, Esquire
It is matter of curious inquiry to trace out how those species of
soft-billed birds, that continue with us the winter through, subsist
during the dead months. The imbecility of birds seems not to be the
only reason why they shun the rigour of our winters; for the robust
wryneck (so much resembling the hardy race of wood-peckers)
migrates, while the feeble little golden-crowned wren, that shadow
of a bird, braves our severest frosts without availing himself of
houses or villages, to which most of our winter birds crowd in
distressful seasons, while this keeps aloof in fields and woods; but
perhaps this may be the reason why they may often perish, and why
they are almost as rare as any bird we know.
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