On the thirty-first I caused the eaves to be searched,
but we found in the nest only two callow, dead, stinking swifts, on
which a second nest had been formed. This double nest was full of
the black shining cases of the hippoboscae hirundinis.
The following remarks on this unusual incident are obvious. The
first is, that though it may be disagreeable to swifts to remain
beyond the beginning of August, yet that they can subsist longer is
undeniable. The second is, that this uncommon event, as it was
owing to the loss of the first brood, so it corroborates my former
remark, that swifts breed regularly but once; since, was the
contrary the case, the occurrence above could neither be new nor
rare.
P.S. One swift was seen at Lyndon, in the county of Rutland, in
1782, so late as the third of September.
Letter LIII
To The Honourable Daines Barrington
As I have sometimes known you make inquiries about several
kinds of insects, I shall here send you an account of one sort which
I little expected to have found in this kingdom.
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