206 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



he inclines his shell, by tilting it against the wall, to collect and 

 admit every feeble ray. 



Pitiable seems the condition of this poor embarrassed reptile : 

 to be cased in a suit of ponderous armour, which he cannot lay 

 aside ; to be imprisoned, as it were, within his own shell, must 

 preclude, we should suppose, all activity and disposition for enter- 

 prize. Yet there is a season of the year (usually the beginning 

 of June) when his exertions are. remarkable. He then walks on 

 tiptoe, and is stirring by five in the morning ; and, traversing the 

 garden, examines every wicket and interstice in the fences, 

 through which he will escape if possible : and often has eluded 

 the care of the gardener, and wandered to some distant field. 

 The motives that impel him to undertake these rambles seem to 

 be of the amorous kind : his fancy then becomes intent on sexual 

 attachments, which transport him beyond his usual gravity, and 

 induce him to forget for a time his ordinary solemn deportment. 



LETTER LI. 



TO THE SAME. 



Selborne, Sept. 3, 1781. 



I HAVE now read your miscellanies through with much care and 

 satisfaction ; and am to return you my best thanks for the 

 honourable mention made in them of me as a naturalist, which 

 I wish I may deserve. 



In some former letters I expressed my suspicions that many 

 of the house-martins do not depart in the winter far from this 

 village. I therefore determined to make some search about the 

 south-east end of the hill, where I imagined they might slumber 

 out the uncomfortable months of winter. But supposing that 

 the examination would be made to the best advantage in the 

 spring, and observing that no martins had appeared by the llth 

 of April last ; on that day I employed some men to explore the 

 shrubs and cavities of the suspected spot. The persons took 

 pains, but without any success : however, a remarkable incident 

 occurred in the midst of our pursuit while the labourers were 

 at work a house-martin, the first that had been seen this year, 

 came down the village in the sight of several people, and went 

 at once into a nest, where it stayed a short time, and then flew 

 over the houses ; for some days after no martins were observed, 



