XI.] 
OF SELBORNE. 
35 
this bird frequented the spot where plum-trees grow ; and that 
he had seen it with somewhat hard in its mouth, which it broke 
with difficulty ; these were the stones of damsons. Tlie Latin 
ornithologists call this bird coccothraaistes, i.e., berry-breaker, 
because with its large horny beak it cracks and breaks the shells 
of stone-fruits for the sake of the seed or kernel. Birds of this 
sort are rarely seen in England, and only in winter.] — Observa- 
tions ON Nature. 
A cross-bill (Loxia curvirostra) was killed last year in this 
neighbourhood. 
1,, 
THE HOOPOE. 
Our streams, which are small, and rise only at the end of the 
village, yield nothing but the bull's head,' or miller's thumb 
{GoUns fluviatilis capitatus), the trout {Trutta fluvicttilis) , tlie 
eel {anguilla), the lampern {Lampetra imrca et fluviatilis), and 
the stickleback (Pisciculus amleatus). 
We arc 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 
^ Salmn fario. Linn. 
D 2 
