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 stream that is not web-footed, and yet is an excellent swimmer and diver it answers exactly to the mus amphibius of Linnæus, (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.*

* There is but one species of water-rat in this country, which is not web-footed. Linnæus was in error when he gave as one of its characters, "plantis palmatis;" but it appears, from his own acknowledgment, that he had not examined it closely; he probably copied this from Ray. There have, however, been two species confounded under the name of “short-tailed field mouse,” which is the mus agrestis capite grandi brachyuros of Ray. The differential characters of these have been pointed out in the "Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist." for June, 1841, vol. vii. p. 274. In one, which is the arvicola arvalis of Pallas, the body is four inches in length at the most, tail not included, with the ears projecting out of the fur; the colour of the fur is reddish-brown above; greyish-white beneath, the hair being sometimes dusky at the roots. In the other, which has been called by Mr. Thompson A. neglecta, but which is, probably, the species found in Sweden, and the mus agrestis of Linnæus, the body is larger, measuring five or five and a half inches, and the fur longer, entirely concealing the ears; the colour of the fur above is reddish brown, beneath whitish, with a large portion of the hair from the root upwards dusky. This last species was first distinguished by Mr. Thompson, who found it in two localities in Scotland. It appears

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 !"

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 Engglish 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.

to have a more northern range than the A. arvalis, at least in Great Britain; and is common, where found at all.

Besides the above British species of arvicola, there is the bank vole, A. riparia, Yarr., which, if it ever occurred to Ray, was also confounded by him under the general name of mus agrestis, &c. For the knowledge of this species we are indebted to Mr. Yarrell. It is distinguished from the A. arvalis and the A. neglecta, by its brighter chestnut-red fur, and its longer tail, equalling half the length of the body. In neither of these two last, is the tail more than one-third the length of the body. The bank vole has been found in many parts of England, as well as Scotland, and principally frequents hedge-bottoms and ditch-banks.-L. J.

LETTER XI.

Selborne, Sept. 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 remembrance, 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

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 breed in my outlet ; but were frightened and persecuted by idle boys, who would never let them be at rest.*

Three gross-beaks (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.t

* The hoopoe is an occasional, but not very unfrequent, visitant in this country. Mr. Yarrell says, that "hardly a season passes but one or more examples are obtained, and there is not a county on our southern or eastern coasts in which this species has not been killed several times." In a few instances it has been known to breed with us, but it more commonly appears in autumn, after the breeding-season is over.-L. J.

The gross-beak, or haw-finch, was supposed, till lately, to be only met with in this country during winter; but it is now ascertained to reside permanently throughout the year in several different localities. Mr. Doubleday has observed this to be the case in Epping Forest, where these birds abound, and where he has often found their nests. He observes that their extreme shyness has, no doubt, contributed to keep us in ignorance of their habits and economy, which exceeds that of almost any land bird he is acquainted with, rendering it almost impossible, in open places, to approach them within gun-shot. He states the nest to be placed in various trees, and at an elevation varying from five to twentyfive or thirty feet. They pair about the middle of April, and the young are hatched about the third week in May. See the Mag of Zool. and Bot. vol. i. p. 448, where Mr. Doubleday has recorded many interesting observations respecting the habits of this species.-L. J.

A cross-bill (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's-head 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 sea-birds. As to wild-fowls, we have a few teams of ducks bred in the moors where the snipes breed ; 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 hawks : when full, like a dog, it hides what it cannot eat.

The young of the barn-owl are not easily raised,

*"This and the succeeding names of fishes, are derived from Ray's Synopsis Avium et Piscium. The fish here alluded to is the cottus gobio, LINN.”—E. T. B.

+ Salmo fario, LINN.

‡ There are at least three species of eel in this country. (See note on Letter XL.) Of course it is impossible to say, in the absence of any accompanying characters, which is the one that occurred to White.-L. J.

§ This is, probably, not the lamprey, properly so called, but the pride of Plot's Oxfordshire, the ammocætes branchialis, DUM. -L. J.

|| Gasterosteus aculeatus, Linn., which some authors think is resolvable into several distinct species.—L. J.