26 RAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS. 



rufescens (PI. L, fig. 8). It is of a reddish-grey 

 or brown colour, closely striated transversely, and 

 rather solid and opaque, at the same time much 

 more compressed in form than any of those before 

 mentioned. This and the two last-named species (or 

 species and variety, as we suppose they must now be 

 called) furnish plenty of food to the blackbirds and 

 thrushes. The latter, in particular, are very fond of 

 them, and may be seen searching for them with great 

 perseverance in many a weed-choked ditch. Little 

 heaps of empty shells, with the spires broken, may 

 often be found in our gardens, testifying to the feast 

 which has rewarded the industrious songster. 



In similar situations, as well as under logs and 

 stones, may be found the little bristly snail shell, 

 H. hispida (PL L, fig. 7), which is not unlike 

 rufescens in size and colour, but with a thick epider- 

 mis, closely covered with short recurved hairs, which 

 are persistent and not easily rubbed off. It may be 

 observed, by the way, that the young of rufescens have 

 the shell also hispid. The hairs may be easily seen 

 with a lens, and after they have fallen off, the impres- 

 sions which are caused by their insertion into the epi- 

 dermis remain on the surface of full-grown specimens, 



