84 LETTERS TO MARCO xm 



these smaller snails hibernate, at anyrate 

 they do not do it for nearly so long a period 

 as the larger ones, and I have never come 

 across them in the winter in masses, as one 

 finds the tabbies. They do some harm, no 

 doubt, but I fancy they are chiefly scavengers 

 eating up decaying vegetation. I found some 

 dead branches of a Buddloea globosa with the 

 bark stripped clean by these little snails, 

 whereas none of the living branches were 

 touched by them in any way. There are 

 endless varieties amongst these snails. My 

 nephew Harry pointed many out to me, 

 amongst others one that had hairs or bristles 

 on its shell. 



They are all very alert and difficult to 

 capture, as the least touch to the plant on 

 which they are feeding gives them the alarm, 

 and they fall directly to the ground, where 

 they are not easily afterwards found. In the 

 winter I find immense quantities of their little 

 shells quite empty lying about, and I some- 

 times turn up a living one beneath dwarf 



