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Philosophical Letters, that he has discovered three. In these there is again an instance of some very common birds that have as yet no English name.

Mr. Stillingfleet makes a question whether the blackcap (motacilla atricapilla) be a bird of passage or not. I think there is no doubt of it; for in April, in the first fine weather, they come trooping all at once into these parts, but are never seen in the winter. They are delicate songsters.

Numbers of snipes build every summer in some moory ground on the verge of this parish. It is very amusing to see the cock-bird on wing at that time, and to hear his piping and humming notes.

I have had no opportunity yet of procuring any of those mice which I mentioned to you in town. The person that brought me the last says they are plenty in harvest, at which time I will take care to get more, and will endeavour to put the matter out of doubt whether it be a nondescript species or not.

I suspect much there may be two species of WATER-RATS. Ray says, and Linnæus after him, that the water-rat is web-footed behind. Now I have discovered a rat on the banks of our little

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stream that is not web-footed, and yet is an excellent swimmer and diver: it answers exactly to the mus amphibius (see Syst. Nat.), which, he says, "natat in fossis et urinatur." I should be glad to procure one "plantis palmatis." Linnæus seems to be in a puzzle about his mus amphibius, and to doubt whether it differs from his mus terrestris ; which if it be, as he allows, the ". mus agrestis capite grandi brachyuros" of Ray is widely different from the water-rat, both in size, make, and manner of life.

As to the falco which I mentioned in town, I shall take the liberty to send it down to you into Wales, presuming on your candour that you will excuse me if it should appear as familiar to you as it is strange to me. Though mutilated, "qualem dices.. antehac fuisse, tales cum sint reliquiæ !”

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It haunted a marshy piece of ground in quest of wild ducks and snipes; but when it was shot had just knocked down a rook, which it was tearing in pieces. I cannot make it answer to any of our English hawks, neither could I find any like it at the curious exhibition of stuffed birds in Spring Gardens. I found it nailed up at the end of a barn, which is the countryman's museum.

The parish I live in is a very abrupt, uneven country, full of hills and woods, and therefore full of birds.

LETTER XI.

Selborne, September 9, 1767. It will not be without impatience that I shall wait for your thoughts with regard to the falco: as to its weight, breadth, &c. I wish I had set them down at the time; but, to the best of my remem. brance, it weighed two pounds and eight ounces, and measured, from wing to wing, thirty-eight inches. Its cere and feet were yellow, and the circle of its eyelids a bright yellow. As it had been killed some days and the eyes were sunk, I could make no good observation on the colour of the pupils and the irides.

The most unusual birds I ever observed in these parts were a pair of HOOPOES (upupa), which came

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several years ago in the summer, and frequented an ornamented piece of ground which joins to my garden for some weeks. They used to march about in a stately manner, feeding in the walks many times

in the day; and seemed disposed to build in my outlet, but were frighted and persecuted by idle boys, who never let them be at rest.

Three grosbeaks (loxia coccothraustes) appeared some years ago in my fields, in the winter, one of which I shot. Since that, now and then one is occasionally seen in the same dead season.

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A crossbill (loxia curvirostra) was killed last year in this neighbourhood.

Our streams, which are small, and rise only at the end of the village, yield nothing but the bull'shead or miller's-thumb (gobius fluviatilis capitatus), the trout (trutta fluviatilis), the eel (anguilla), the lampern (lampætra parva et fluviatilis), and the stickleback (pisciculus aculeatus);

We are twenty miles from the sea, and almost as many from a great river, and therefore see but little of seabirds. As to wild fowls, we have a few teams of ducks bred up in the moors where the snipes dwell; and multitudes of widgeons and teals, in hard weather, frequent our lakes in the forest.

Having some acquaintance with a tame brown owl, I find that it casts up the fur of mice and the feathers of birds in pellets, after the manner of

From Miscellaneous Observations." Mr. B. shot a cock grosbeak which he had observed to haunt his garden for more than a fortnight. I began to accuse this bird of making sad havoc among the buds of the cherries, gooseberries, and wallfruit of all the neighbouring orchards. Upon opening its crop or craw, no buds were to be seen, but a mass of kernels of the stones of fruits. Mr. B. observed that this bird frequented the spot where plum-trees grow, and that he had seen it with somewhat hard in its mouth, which it broke with difficulty: these were the stones of damsons. The Latin name signifies berry-breaker, because with its large horny beak it cracks and breaks the shells of stone-fruits for the sake of the seed or kernel. Birds of this sort are rarely seen in England, and only in winter.

hawks; when full, like a dog, it hides what it cannot eat.

The young of the barn-owl are not easily raised, as they want a constant supply of fresh mice; whereas the young of the brown owl will eat indis. criminately all that is brought: snails, rats, kittens, puppies, magpies, and any kind of carrion or offal. The house-martins have eggs still, and squab. young. The last swift I observed was about the 21st of August; it was a straggler.

Redstarts, fly-catchers, whitethroats, and reguli non cristati still appear; but I have seen no blackcaps lately.

I forgot to mention that I once saw in Christ Church College quadrangle, in Oxford, on a very sunny, warm morning, a house-martin flying about and settling on the parapet so late as the 20th of November.

At present I know only two species of BATS, the

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common vespertilio murinus and the vespertilio auribus.

I was much entertained last summer with a tame

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