IO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 
fast, and seems to depend more on the swiftness of its feet 
than on its ‘flying. | ! 
When we came to draw it, we found the entrails so soft and 
tender in appearance, they might have been dressed like the 
ropes of a woodcock. ‘The craw or crop was small and lank, 
containing a mucus; the gizzard thick and strong, and filled 
with small shell snails, some whole, and many ground to pieces 
through the attrition which is occasioned by the muscular force 
and motion of that intestine. We saw no gravels among the 
food: perhaps the shell snails might perform the functions of 
gravels or pebbles, and might grind one another. Landrails 
used to abound formerly, I remember, in the low wet bean- 
fields of Christian Malford in North Wilts, and in the meadows 
near Paradise Gardens at Oxford, where I have often heard 
them cry crex, crex. The bird mentioned above weighed seven 
and a half ounces, was fat and tender, and in flavor like the 
flesh of a woodcock. The liver was very large and delicate. — 
Observations on Nature." | 
The parish of Selborne, by taking in so much of the forest, 
is a vast district. ‘Those who tread the bounds are employed 
part of three days in the business, and are of opinion that the 
outline, in all its curves and indentings, does not comprise less 
than thirty miles. 
The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by the Hanger 
from the strong westerly winds. ‘The air is soft, but rather 
moist from the effluvia of so many trees; yet perfectly healthy 
and free from agues. 
The quantity of rain that falls on it is very considerable, as 
may be supposed in so woody and mountainous a district. As 
my experience in measuring the water is but of short date, I 
am not qualified to give the mean quantity. 
1 Tt has been thought by the Editor better to introduce these Observa- 
tions in the text, where they fit in with the subject, than to print them 
separately. 
