THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 101 



RAII NOMINA. USUALLY APPEARS ABOUT 



11. Red-start, Ruticllla. Middle of April: more 



agreeable song. 



12. Stone-curlew, Oedlcnemus. End of March : loud noc- 



turnal whistle. 



13. Turtle-dove, Turtur. 



14. Grasshopper-lark, Alauda minima locustae Middle of April: a small 



voce. sibilous note, till the end 



of July. 



15. Swift, Hirundo apus. About April 27. 



1 6. Less reed-sparrow, Passer arundinaceus A sweet polyglot, but hurry- 



minor. ing : it has the notes of 



many birds. 



17. Land-rail, Ortygometra. A loud harsh note, crex,crex. 



1 8. Largest willow- Regulus non cristatus. Cantat voce itrlduld locustae ; 



wren, end of April, on the tops 



of high beeches. 



1 9. Goat-sucker, or Caprimulgui. Beginning of May ; chatters 



fern-owl, by night with a singular 



noise. 



20. Fly-catcher, Stoparola. May 12. A very mute bird : 



this is the latest summer 

 bird of passage. 



This assemblage of curious and amusing birds belongs 

 to ten several genera of the Linnaean system ; and are all 

 of the or do of passeres, save the jynx and cuculus, which are 

 picae, and the charadrius (oedicnemus} and rallus (ortygometra), 

 which are grallae. 



These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the 

 following Linnaean genera : 



1. Jy nx - 1 3- Columba. 



2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 1 6, 1 8. Motacilla. 17. Rallus. 

 3,4, 5, 15. Hirundo. 19. Caprimulgus. 

 8. Cuculus. 14. Alauda. 



12. Charadrius. 20. Muscle apa. 



Most soft-billed birds live on insects, and not on grain 

 and seeds ; and therefore at the end of summer they 

 retire : but the following soft-billed birds, though insect- 

 eaters, stay with us the year round : 



RAII NOMINA. 



Redbreast, Rubecula. J Th , ese fr^nt houses ; and 



Wren, Passer troglodytes. \ haunt outbuildin g s in the 



[ winter ; eat spiders. 



