OF SELBORNE. 135 
between them, and that in such numbers that they 
quite defaced the thatch, and gave it a ragged ap- 
pearance. 
The blue titmouse, or nun, is a great frequent. 
er of houses, and a general devourer. Besides in- 
sects, it is very fond of flesh, for it frequently picks 
bones on dunghills ; it is a vast admirer of suet, and 
haunts butchers’ shops. When a boy, I have known 
twenty in a morning caught with snap mousetraps 
baited with tallow or suet. It will also pick holes 
in apples left on the ground, and be well entertained 
with the seeds on the head of a sunflower. ‘The 
blue, marsh, and great titmice will, in very severe 
weather, carry away barley and oat straws from 
the sides of ricks. 
How the wheatear and whinchat support them- 
selves in winter cannot be so easily ascertained, 
since they spend their time on wild heaths and 
warrens; the former especially, where there are 
stone quarries: most probably it is that their main- 
tenance arises from the aureliz of the lepidoptera 
ordo, which furnish them with a plentiful table in 
the wilderness. 
LETTER XLII. 
Selborne, March 9, 1775. 
Dear Sir,—Some future faunist, a man of for. 
tune, will, I hope, extend his visits to the kingdom 
of Ireland; a new field, and a country little known 
to the naturalist. He will not, it is to be wished, 
undertake that tour unaccompanied by a botanist, 
