74 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



many weeks before its congeners ; and that not only with 

 us, but also in Andalusia, where they also begin to retire 

 about the beginning of August. 



The great large bat (which by-the-bye is at present a non- 

 descript in England, and what I have never been able yet 

 to procure) retires or migrates very early in the summer ; it 

 also ranges very high for its food, feeding in a different 

 region of the air; and that is the reason I never could 

 procure one. Now this is exactly ^the case with the swifts ; 

 for they take their food in a more exalted region than the 

 other species, and are very seldom seen hawking for flies 

 near the ground, or over the surface of the water. From 

 hence I would conclude that these hirundines and the larger 

 bats are supported by some sorts of high-flying gnats, 

 scarabs, or 'phalcence^ that are of short continuance; and 

 that the short stay of these strangers is regulated by the 

 defect of their food. 



By my journal it appears that curlews clamoured on to 

 October 31st; since which I have not seen nor heard any. 

 Swallows were observed on to November 3rd. 



LETTER XXYII. 



Selborne, Feb. 22nd, 1770. 



Hedgehogs abound in my gardens and fields. The manner 

 in which they eat the roots of the plantain in my grass- 

 walks is very curious ; with their upper mandible, which is 

 much longer than their lower, they bore under the plant, 

 and so eat the root off upwards, leaving the tuft of leaves 



