I am, etc.
Letter XV
To The Honourable Daines Barrington
Selborne, July 8, 1773.
Dear Sir,
Some young men went down lately to a pond on the verge of
Wolmer-forest to hunt flappers, or young wild-ducks, many of
which they caught, and, among the rest, some very minute yet well-
fledged wild-fowls alive, which, upon examination, I found to be
teals. I did not know till then that teals ever bred in the south of
England, and was much pleased with the discovery: this I look
upon as a great stroke in natural history.
We have had, ever since I can remember, a pair of white owls that
constantly breed under the eaves of this church. As I have paid
good attention to the manner of life of these birds during their
season of breeding, which lasts the summer through, the following
remarks may not perhaps be unacceptable: -- About an hour before
sunset (for then the mice begin to run) they sally forth in quest of
prey, and hunt all round the hedges of meadows and small
enclosures for them, which seem to be their only food.
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