OF SELBORNE. 57, 
Europe ; and may retire before the exceffive rigor of the frofts in 
thofe parts ; and return to breed in the fpring, when the cold 
abates. If this be the cafe, here is difcovered a new bird of winter 
paflage, concerning whofe migrations the writers are filent : but if 
thefe birds fhould prove the oufels of the north of England, then 
here is a migration difclofed within our own kingdom never be- 
fore remarked. It does not yet appear whether they retire beyond 
the bounds of our ifland to tlie fouth ; but it is moil probable that 
they ufually do, or elfe one cannot fuppofe that they would have 
continued fo long unnoticed in the fouthern counties. The oufel 
is larger than a blackbird, and feeds on haws ; but laft autumn 
(when there were no haws) it fed on yew-berries : in the fpring it 
feeds on ivy-berries, which ripen only at that feafon, in March 
and April. 
I muft not omit to tell you (as you have been fo lately on the 
ftudy of reptiles) that my people, every now and then of late, 
draw up with a bucket of water from my well, which is 63 feet 
deep, a large black warty lizard with a fin-tail and yellow belly. 
How they firfl; came down at that depth, and how they were 
ever to have got out thence without help, is more than I am 
able to fay. 
My thanks are due to you for your trouble and care in the ex- 
amination of a buck's head. As far as your difcoveries reach at 
prefent, they feem much to corroborate my fufpicions; and I 
hope Mr. may find reafon to give his deciiion in my favour ; 
and then, I think, we may advance this extraordinary provition of 
nature as a new inftance of the wifdom of God in the creation. 
As yet I have not quite done with my hiftory of the oedknemus, 
or flone-curlew; for I flrall defire a gentleman in Su^ex (near 
whofe houfe thefe birds congregate in vaft flocks in the autumn) 
I .to 
