NATURAL HISTORY OP SELBORNE. 



49 



on ivy-berries, which ripen only at that season, in March and 

 April* 



I must not omit 

 to tell you (as you 

 have been so lately 

 on the study of rep- 

 tiles) that my people, 

 every now and then 

 of late, draw up with 

 a bucket of water 

 from my well, which 

 is sixty-three feet 

 deep, a large black 

 warty lizard with a 

 fin-tail and yellow 

 belly. How they first 

 came down at that 

 depth, and how they 



were ever to have got out thence without help, is more than I am able 

 to say. 



My thanks are due to you for your trouble and care in the examina- 

 tion of a buck's head. As far as your discoveries reach at present, 



they seem much to corroborate my suspicions ; and I hope Mr. 



may find reason to give his decision in my favour ; and then, I think, 

 we may advance this extraordinary provision of nature as a new instance 

 of the wisdom of Grod in the creation. 



As yet I have not quite done with my history of the oedicnemus, or 

 stone-curlew ; for I shall desire a gentleman in Sussex (near whose house 

 these birds congregate in vast flocks in the autumn) to observe nicely 

 when they leave him (if they do leave him), and when they return again 

 in the spring : I was with this gentleman lately, and saw several 

 single birds. 



RING OUSEL. 



LETTER XXI. 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE, Nov. 28t7i, 1768. 



DEAR SIR, With regard to the oedicnemus, or stone-curlew, I intend to 

 write very soon to my friend near Chichester, in whose neighbourhood 

 these birds seem most to abound ; and shall urge him to take particular 



* White's observations upon the ring-ousel, at the time he wrote, were very 

 important, and made with great accuracy. As in other matters, it will be very 

 interesting for Professor Bell to give his attention to their present habits in the 

 vicinity of Selborne, to ascertain if their numbers continue as many, and their 

 appearance as regular. In Scotland the ring-ousel is a regular summer visitant, 

 extending from the English border to Sutherlandshire ; in the rocky districts of 

 the latter county it is tolerably frequent. In autumn and before their departure 

 they visit the lower country, and remain a day or a week according to circum- 

 stances, feeding at this time upon various berries, and occasionally visiting 

 gardens. The broods are now joined and mixed together, and the young appeal 

 in their imperfect mottled dress. 



