108 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



the eaves of thatched houses, in order to pull out the flies 

 that were concealed between them, and that in such 

 numbers that they quite defaced the thatch, and gave it a 

 ragged appearance. 



The blue titmouse, or nun, is a great frequenter of 

 houses, and a general devourer. Beside insects, it is 

 very fond of flesh ; for it frequently picks bones on dung- 

 hills : it is a vast admirer of suet, and haunts butchers' 

 shops. When a boy, I have known twenty in a morning 

 caught with snap mousetraps, baited with tallow or suet. 

 It will also pick holes in apples left on the ground, and 

 be well entertained with the seeds on the head of a sun- 

 flower. The blue, marsh, and great titmice will, in very 

 severe weather, carry away barley and oat straws from the 

 sides of ricks. 



How the wheat-ear and whin-chat support themselves 

 in winter cannot be so easily ascertained, since they 

 spend their time on wild heaths and warrens ; the 

 former especially, where there are stone quarries : most 

 probably it is that their maintenance arises from the 

 aurelise of the lepidoptera ordo, which furnish them with 

 a plentiful table in the wilderness. 



I am, etc. 



LETTER XLII 



Selborne, Maicli 9, 1775. 

 Dear Sir, 



Some future faunist, a man of fortune, will, I hope, 

 extend his visits to the kingdom of Ireland ; a new field, 

 and a country httle known to the naturalist. He will 

 not, it is to be wished, undertake that tour unaccompanied 

 by a botanist, because the mountains have scarcely 



