78 Miscellaneous. 



so remarkable, and taken notice of even by the' vulgar, for his voice, 

 manner of breeding, and absconding all winter, that I think no Bird 

 that agreeth not with him in these particulars ought to be joyned 

 with him. Neither is the length of the tail a sufficient argument; 

 for the Yunx, a genuine Woodpecker, hath a tail as long in propor- 

 tion to his body, and marked with crosse-bars too. 



2. In referring the Savanna-bird to the Lark-kind. For that di- 

 stinction of Small Birds into slender and^thick-bill'd, or as our Fowl- 

 ers phrase it, into soft and hard-beak' t, dividing the numerous ge- 

 nera of them almost equally, is of such eminent use for the clear un- 

 derstanding and ranking of them, that I think it ought by no means 

 to be rejected, or the Birds of those kinds confounded, though the 

 places they frequent and their shape and manner of living may agree ; 

 and that characteristick note of the Lark-kind may be common to 

 some of them, I mean having a very long back-claw or spurre. I 

 have taken notice of some that agree with Larks in these particulars, 

 as the Bunting and a sort of Mountain Finch. Yet I believe that 

 there is a difference in the diet of those Birds. For the slender-bill'd, 

 though they feed upon the pulp and grains of fruits, yet they seldome 

 meddle with dry seeds unlesse driven by hunger. But the hard-bill'd 

 touch not pulpy fruits, but feed upon dry seeds, as all sorts of grain 

 and thistles, &c. To feed upon Insects is common to them both. 



Your opinion or conjecture upon the Rabihorcado's being a kind 

 of fork-tail'd Larus or Sea-swallow, I very much approve, and agree 

 with you in. I fancied that they were no palmiped Bird, because 

 those that write of them wonder that they should be found so far 

 out at Sea. Which is no wonder in a Larus. 



My Wife salutes you with the tender of her very humble service. 

 The ulcers upon my leg, which I thought had been perfectly healed 

 and dried up, continuing well all Winter, are this Spring broken out 

 again and become very troublesome and painfull. They puzzle my 

 Philosophy, and I am at some losse how to order them. 



I am. Sir, your very affectionate friend and humble servant, 



B. N. April 23, —94. John Ray. 



The difficulty which a Botanist has to encounter who has not seen the 

 Plants he has to describe, growing in their natural places. 

 [Ibid. fol. 155. Orig.'] 

 Sir, — I received your very kind letter of June 6*, and long after 

 the acceptable present of your Book : for which I return you many 

 thanks. I cannot but admire your industry and patience in reading 

 and comparing such a multitude of Relations and Accounts of Voy- 

 ages, and referring to its proper place what you found therein re- 

 lating to your subject, and that with so much circumspection and 

 judgement. You have done Botanists great service in distributing 

 and reducing the confused heap of names, and contracting the num- 

 ber of Species. But who is able to doo the like ? No man but who 

 is alike qualified, and hath seen the things growing in their natural 

 places. For my own part I doe freely acknowledge myself altogether 

 insufficient for such a task, having not seen the plants themselves, 



