OF SELBORNE. 55 



Our streams, which are small, and rise 

 only at the end of the village, yield no- 

 thing but the bulVs head or miller s thumb 

 fgohius Jluviatilis capitatusj, the trout 

 ( truttajluviatilis), the eel fanguilla), the 

 lampern ( lampcetra parva et Jluviatilis )y 

 and the stickle-back ( pisciculus aculeatus). 



We are twenty miles from the sea, and 

 almost as many from a great river, and 

 therefore see but little of sea-birds. As to 

 wild fowls, we have a few teams of ducks 

 bred in the moors where the snipes breed ; 

 and multitudes oiwido;eonsdi\\dt.teals\\\\\ci.xdi. 

 weather frequent our lakes in the forest. 



Having some acquaintance with a tame 

 brown owl, I find that it casts up the fur of 

 mice, and the feathers of birds in pellets, 

 after the manner of hawks : when full, 

 like a dog, it hides what it cannot eat. 



The young of the barn-owl are not 

 easily raised, as they want a constant 

 supply of fresh mice : whereas the 

 young of the brown owl will eat indis- 

 criminately all that is brought ; snails, 

 rats, kittens, puppies, magpies, and any 

 kind of carrion or offal. 



