■WATER EATS. 39 



trocMltis : Mr. Derham supposes, in Eay's Philosophical 

 Letters, that he has discovered three. In these, there is 

 again an instance of some very common birds that have as 

 yet no English name. 



Mr. ^tillLngfleet makes a question whether the black-cap 

 (motacilla atracapilla) be a bird of passage or not. I think 

 there is no doubt of it ; for in April, in the first fine weather, 

 they come trooping all at once in these parts, but are never 

 seen in the winter. They are delicate songsters. 



Numbers of snipes* breed every summer in some moory 

 ground on the verge of this parish. It is very amusing to 

 see the cock bird on wing at that time, and to hear his 

 piping and humming notes. 



I have had no opportunity yet of procuring any of those 

 mice which I mentioned to you in town. The person that 

 brought me the last says they are plenty m harvest, at 

 which time I will take care to get more ; and wiU endeavour 

 to put the matter out of doubt, whether it be a nondescript 

 species or not. 



I suspect much there may be tw^o species of water-rats.f 

 Eay says, and Linnaeus after him, that the water-rat is web- 

 footed behind. Now, I have discovered a rat on the banks of 

 our little stream that is not web-footed, and yet is an excel- 

 lent swimmer and diver : it answers exactly to the mus am- 

 pMbius of Linnseus (see Syst. Nat.), which, he says, " natat in 

 fossis et urinatur," " swims and dives in the water." I should 

 be glad to procure one "plantispalmatis," "with webbed ieet." 

 Linnseus seems to be in a puzzle about his mus amphibius, 

 " amphibious mouse," and to doubt whether it difiers from his 

 mus terrestris, "land mouse," which, if it be, as he allows, 

 the "mus agrestis capite graiidi iraehyuros," " short-tailed, 

 large-headed field-mouse," of Ray, is widely different from 

 the water-rat, both in size, make, and manner of Ufe. 



* Both snipes and woodcocks breed freely in the neighbourhood of Woolmer 

 Forest. The latter have always four eggs, which are generally deposited on a 

 dry bank. As soon as the eggs are hatched, the young are conveyed to wet 

 swampy grolinds. Sir Charles Taylor of HoUycombe, for many year» pastj 

 has had a couple of young woodcocks on his table on the 25th of June. — Ed. 



•j" Many persons in the neighbourhood, of the river Thames have supposed 

 that there were two varieties of water-rats. This has ai-isen from tiie circum- 

 stance of the common Norway rat having been seen swimming to the aits on 

 the nver, and attacking and destroving the water-rats. — Ed, 



