of Selborne 65 



Mr. Ray has given an excellent characteristic of it when 

 he says, " Rostru7n &" pedes in hac aviaihl multh majores 

 simt qua77t pro cofporis ratiotie." See letter May 29, 

 1769. 



I liave got you the egg of an ocdiaicfnus, or stone 

 curlew, which was picked up in a fallow on the naked 

 ground : there were two ; but the finder inadvertently 

 crushed one with his foot before he saw them. 



When I wrote to you last year on reptiles, I wish I 

 had not forgot to mention the faculty that snakes have 

 of stinking se defende7ido. I knew a gentleman who kept 

 a tame snake, which was in its person as sweet as any 

 animal while in a good humour and unalarmed ; but as 

 soon as a stranger, or a dog or cat, came in, it fell to 

 hissing, and filled the room with such nauseous effluvia 

 as rendered it hardly supportable. Thus the squnck, 

 or stonck, of Ray's Sy7iop. Quadr. is an innocuous and 

 sweet animal ; but, when pressed hard by dogs and men, 

 it can eject such a pestilent and fetid smell and excrement, 

 that nothing can be more horrible. 



A gentleman sent me lately a fine specimen of the 

 la7iius mi7ior ci7terasce7is cuth 77iacula tTt scapiilis albd, 

 Raii ; which is a bird that, at the time of your publishing 

 your two first volumes of British Zoology, I find you had 

 not seen. You have described it well from Edwards's 

 drawing. 



LETTER XXVI 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE 



Selborne, December 8, 1769. 



Dear Sir, 

 I was much gratified by your communicative letter on 

 your return from Scotland, where you spent, I find, some 

 considerable time, and gave yourself good room to 

 examine the natural curiosities of that extensive kingdom, 

 both those of the islands, as well as those of the highlands. 

 The usual bane of such expeditions is hurry ; because 



E 



