April 11, 1790
Posted by sydney on Apr 11th, 1790
Deeps snow at Selborne: five inches deep! Red-starts, Fly-catchers, & Black-caps arrive. If these little delicate beings are birds of passage (as we have reason to suppose they are, because they are never seen in winter) how could they, feeble as they seem, bear up, against such storms of snow & rain; & make their way thro’ such meteorous turbulencies, as one should suppose would embarrass & retard the most hardy & resolute of the winged nation? Yet they keep their appointed times & seasons, & in spite of frosts & winds return to their stations periodically , as if they had met with nothing to obstruct them. The withdrawing & appearance of the short-winged summer birds is a very puzzling circumstance in natural History!
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