238 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



ruins, the walls being cracked through the very stones that 

 composed them ; a hanging coppice was changed to a naked 

 rock ; and some grass grounds and an arable field so broken 

 and rifted by the chasms as to be rendered for a time 

 neither fit for the plough nor safe for pasturage, till 

 considerable labour and expense had been bestowed in 

 levelling the surface and filling in the gaping fissures. 



LETTER XLVI. 



resonant arbusta - 



Selborne. 



There is a steep abrupt pasture field and interspersed with 

 furze close to the back of this village, well known by the 

 name of Short Lithe, consisting of a rocky dry soil, and 

 inclining to the afternoon sun. This spot abounds with the 

 Gryllus campestris, or field-cricket ; which, though frequent 

 in these parts, is by no means a common insect in many 

 other counties. 



As their cheerful summer cry cannot but draw the 

 attention of a naturalist, I have often gone down to 

 examine the economy of these grylli, and study their mode 

 of life ; but they are so shy and cautious that it is no easy 

 matter to get a sight of them ; for feeling a person's foot- 

 steps as he advances, they stop short in the midst of their 

 song, and retire backward nimbly into their burrows, where 

 they lurk till all suspicion of danger is over. 



At first we attempted to dig them out with a spade, but 

 without any great success ; for either we could not get to 

 the bottom of the hole, which often terminated under a 



