the ostrich may be well applied to the bird we are 

 talking of : — 



" She is liardtJitd against licr youiig oiits. as tliougli 

 they i;jere not Iters : 



Beeause God Jiatli deprived her of zoisdonu iieitlier 

 hath He imparted to her understanding^ ( Job xxxix. 

 1 6, 17.) 



Does each female cuckoo lay but one egg in a 

 season, or does she drop several in different nests, 

 according as opportunity offers? 



Selborne, Feb. 19, 1770. 



LETTER XXXT 

 To Thomas Pexxant, Esq. 



Hedge-hogs abound in my gardens and fields. 

 The manner in which they eat the roots of the plan- 

 tain in the grass-walk is verv curious : with their 

 upper mandible, which is much longer than their 

 lower, they bore under the plant, and so eat the root 

 off upwards, leaving the tuft of leaves untouched. In 

 this respect they are serviceable, as they destrov a 

 verv troublesome weed : but thev deface the walks 

 in some measure bv digging little round holes. 

 It appears, by the dung that thev drop upon the 

 turf, that beetles are no inconsiderable part of their 



food. In June last I procured a litter of five or 

 II 123 



