The Natural History of Selborne

Began to light fires in the parlors.  Some young martins in a nest at the end of the brew-house.  Small uncrested wrens, chif-chaffs, are seen in the garden.

No mushrooms on the down.

Timothy the tortoise is very dull, & inactive, & spends his time on the border under the fruit-wall.

The hops at Kimbers grow dingy & lose their colour.  T.H.W. left us, & went to Fyfield.

After a bright night, & vast dew, the sky usually becomes clouded by eleven or twelve o’clock in the forenoon;  & clear again towards the decline of the day.  The reason seems to be, that the dew, drawn-up by evaporation, occasions the clouds, which towards evening, being no longer rendered buoyant by the warmth of the sun, melt away, & fall down again in dews.  If clouds are watched of a still, warm evening, they will be seen to melt away, & disappear.  Several nests of gold-finches, with fledged young, were found among the vines of the hops: these nestlings must be second broods.

Some wheat is out.  Trimming has a large field not cut.  Gentiana Amarella, autumnal gentian, or fell-wort, buds for bloom on the hill.  Sent 12 plants of Ophrys spiralis to Mr Curtis of Lambeth marsh.

Ophrys spiralis, ladies traces, in bloom the long Lythe, & on top of the short Lythe.  Wasps seize on butter-flies, &, shearing off their wings, carry their bodies home as food for their young: they prey much on flies.

Hops are not large.  The fly-catchers, which abounded in my outlet, seem to have withdrawn themselves.  Some grapes begin turn colour.  Men bind wheat.  Sweet harvest, & hop-picking weather.  Hirundines congregate on barns, & trees, & on the tower.  The hops are smaller than they were last year.  There is fine clover in many fields.

Bror T. W. & Th. H. W. came from London.

Mr Thomas Mulso left us & went to Winton.