240 
THE NATURAL HISTORY 
[LETT. 
as to be rendered, for a time, neither fit for the plough nor safe 
for pasturage, till considerable labour and expense had been 
bestowed in levelling the surface and filling in the gaping 
fissures. 
Selborne. 
LETTER LXXXVIir. 
TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. 
" — — — resonant arbusta — — — ." 
(ViRG. Ed. ii. 13.) 
" The groves resound." 
There is a steep abrupt pasture field interspersed with furze 
close to the back of this village, well known by the name of 
the Short Lithe, consisting of a rocky dry soil, and inclining to 
the afternoon sun. This spot abounds with Gryllus camipestris, 
or field-cricket, which, though frequent in these parts, is by no 
means a common insect in many other counties. 
As their cheerful summer cry cannot but draw the atten- 
tion of a naturalist, I have often gone down to examine the 
economy of these grylli, and study their mode of life : but 
they are so shy and cautious, that it is no easy matter to get 
a sight of them ; for, feeling a person's footsteps as he advances, 
they stop short in the midst of their song, and retire backward 
nimbly into their burrows, where they lurk till all suspicion of 
danger is over. 
At first we attempted to dig them out with a spade, but 
without any great success ; for either we could not get to the 
bottom of the hole, which often terminated under a great 
stone ; or else, in breaking up the ground, we inadvertently 
squeezed the poor insect to death. Out of one so bruised we 
took a multitude of eggs, which w^ere long and narrow, of a 
yellow colour, and covered with a very tough skin. By this 
