OF SELBORNE. 87 



Our writers record it to have been found 

 only twice in Great- Britain, From all these 

 relations it plainly appears that these long- 

 legged plovers are birds of South Europe 

 and rarely visit our island , and when they 

 do are wanderers and stragglers, and impel- 

 led to make so distant and northern an ex- 

 cursion from motives or accidents for which 

 w^e are not able to account. One thing 

 may fairly be deduced, that these birds 

 come over to us from the continent, since 

 nobody can suppose that a species not 

 noticed once in an age, and of such a 

 remarkable make, can constantly breed un- 

 observed in this kingdom. 



LETTER L. 



TO THE SAME 



DEAR SIR; Selborne, April21, 1780, 



The old Sussex tortoise, that I have men- 

 tioned to you so often, is become my pro- 

 perty. I dug it out of its Winter dormi- 



