The Natural History of Selborne

Gloomy & heavy.  Much hay housed.  Cool gale.  Pitch-darkness.

Vast damage done in various parts of the kingdom by thunder-storms & floods, from Yorkshire all across to Plymouth.

Timothy Turner cuts Baker’s hill, the crop of which he has bought.  It is St foin run to seed, the 17th crop.

On this day my Godson, Littleton Etty discovered a young Cuckow in one of the yew hedges of the vicarage garden, sitting in a small nest that would scarce contain the bird, tho’ not half grown. By watching in a morning we found that the owners of the nest were hedge-sparrows, who were much busied in feeding their great booby. The nest is in so secret a place that it is to be wondered how the parent Cuckow could discover it. Tho’ the bird is very young it is very fierce, gaping, & striking at peoples fingers, & heaving up by way of menace, & striving to intimidate those that approach it. This is now only the fourth young cuckow that I have ever seen in a nest: three of those h. sparrows, & one in that of a tit-lark. As I rose up the N. field-hill lane I saw young partridges, that were about two or three days old, skulking in the cart-ruts; while the dams ran hovering & crying up the horse-track, as if wounded, to draw off my attention.

Began to cut my meadow-grass; a good crop.  Mr & Mrs Richardson left us.  Low creeping mists.  Yellow even.