of Selborne 9 



In the centre of this grove there stood an oak, which, 

 though shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out into a 

 large excrescence about the middle of the stem. On this 

 a pair of ravens had fixed their residence for such a 

 series of years, that the oak was distinguished by the title 

 of the Raven-tree. Many were the attempts of the 

 neighbouring youths to get at this eyry : the difficulty 

 whetted their inclinations, and each was ambitious of 

 surmounting the arduous task. But, when they arrived 

 at the swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so 

 far beyond their grasp, that the most daring lads were 

 awed, and acknowledged the undertaking to be too 

 hazardous. So the ravens built on, nest upon nest, in 

 perfect security, till the fatal day arrived in which the 

 wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of 

 February, when those birds usually sit. The saw was 

 applied to the butt, the wedges were inserted into the 

 opening, the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the 

 beetle or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall ; but still the 

 dam sat on. At last, when it gave way, the bird was 

 flung from her nest ; and, though her parental affection 

 deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, 

 which brought her dead to the ground. 



LETTER III 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE 



The fossil-shells of this district, and sorts of stone, such 

 as have fallen within my observation, must not be passed 

 over in silence. And first I must mention, as a great 

 curiosity, a specimen that was ploughed up in the chalky 

 fields, near the side of the down, and given to me for the 

 singularity of its appearance, which, to an incurious eye, 

 seems like a petrified fish of about four inches long, the 

 cardo passing for an head and mouth. It is in reality a 

 bivalve of the Linnaean genus of My Otitis, and the species 

 of Crista Galli ; called by Lister, Rastellum ; by Rum- 

 phius, Ostreum plicattwi minus ; by D'Argenville, Auris 



