The Natural History of Selborne

House-martins do not deal in second broods so much as usual: yet it should seem that they are not influenced by the cold wet summer, since the swallows seem to be as prolific as ever.  Bees injure the wall-fruit in bad autumns;  because they are hindered from gathering honey.

Some wasps on the wall-fruit.  Where wasps gnaw a hole, the honey-bees come & suck the pulp.  Al fruits are backward, watry, & bad.

The season for shooting is come; but scarce any partidges are to be found: the failure of breed is remarkable.  The tops of the beeches begin to be tinged with a yellow hue.

Vast shower with hail.  Turned the horses into the great mead.  Much grass. A part of the orchard, where I laid the earth which came out of the garden, was sown in April with rye-grass, & hop trefoil, & has been mown already three times.

The barley coming-up unequally is not yet ripe.  Hops promise to be very small.

Fine harvest day.  Some corn housed.

Mr Woods of Chilgrove thinks he improves his flock by turning the east-country poll-rams among his horned ewes.  The east-country poll sheep have shorter legs, & finer wool; & black faces, & spotted fore-legs; & a tuft of wooll in their fore-heads.  Much corn of all sorts still abroad.  Was wetted thro’ on the naked downs near Parham-ash.  Some cuckoos remain.  N.B.  From Lewes to Brightehelmstone, & thence to Beeding-hill, where the wheat-ear traps are frequent no wheat-ears are to be seen: But on the downs west of Beeding, we saw many.   A plain proof this, that those traps make a considerable havock among that species of birds.

Full moon.  The rams begin to play court to the ewes.

The tortoise eats voraciously: is particularly fond of kidney-beans.  Vast halo round the moon.

Grey, sun, sweet day.