Already they begin clamouring in the evening. They cannot, I
think, with any propriety, be called, as they are by Mr. Ray, 'circa
aquas versantes'; for with us, by day at least, they haunt only the
most dry, open, upland fields and sheep walks, far removed from
water. What they may do in the night I cannot say. Worms are their
usual food, but they also eat toads and frogs.

I can show you some good specimens of my new mice. Linnaeus,
perhaps, would call the species mus minimus.



Letter XVI
To Thomas Pennant, Esquire

Selborne, April 18, 1768.

Dear Sir,

The history of the stone curlew, charadrius oedicnemus is as
follows. It lays its eggs, usually two, never more than three, on the
bare ground, without any nest, in the field; so that the countryman,
in stirring his fallows, often destroys them. The young run
immediately from the egg like partridges, etc., and are withdrawn
to some flinty field by their dam, where they skulk among the
stones, which are their best security; for their feathers are so
exactly of the colour of our grey spotted flints, that the most exact
observer, unless he catches the eye of the young bird, may be
eluded. The eggs are short and round; of a dirty white, spotted with
dark bloody blotches. Though I might not be able, just when I