66 N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y
pains and inquiries, we are yet not quite certain to what regions
they do migrate ; and are ftill farther embarafled to find-that fome
do not aftually migrate at all.
Thefe refleftions made fo ftrong an impreffion on my imagination,
that they became productive of a compolition that may perhaps
amufe you for a quarter of an hour when next I have, the
honour of writing to you.
L E T T E R XXIV.
TO TH E S A M E .
DEAR SIR, Selborne, May 15, 1767,
T he fcarabaus fiilb I know very well, having feen it in collections;
but have never been able to difcover one wild in it’s natural-
ftate. Mr. Banks told me he thought it might be found on the:
feacoaft. -
On the thirteenth of April: I went to the fheep-down, where the-
ring-oufels have been obferved to make their appearance at fpring
and fall, in their way perhaps to the north or fouth-j and was
much pleafed to fee three birds about the ufual fpot. We (hot a
cock and a hen; they were plump and in high condition. The
hen had but very fmall rudiments of eggs, within her, which proves
they are late breeders; whereas thofe fpecies of the thrufli kind that
remain with us the whole year have fledged young before that
time. In their crops was nothing very diftinguilhable, but fome-
what that feemed like blades of vegetables nearly digefted. I,n
autumn
autumn they feed on haws and yew-berries, and in the fpring ou
ivy-berries. I drefled one of thefe birds, and found it juicy and
well flavoured. It is remarkable that they make but a few days
ffeay in the-ir fpring vifit, but reft near a fortnight at Michaelmas.
Thefe birds, from the obfervations of three fprings and two
autumns, are moft pun&ual in their return; and exhibit a new
migration unnoticed by the writers, who fuppofed they never
were to be feen in any of the fouthern counties.
One of my neighbours lately brought me a new falicaria, which
at firft I fufpefted might have proved your willow-lark',
but, on a nicer examination, it anfwered much better to the de-
fcription of that fpecies which you (hot at Revejby, in Lincolnjhire.
My bird I defcribe thus : “ It is a fize lefs than the grafshopper-
<e la rk ; the head, back, and coverts of the wings, of a duiky
“ brown, without thofe dark fpots of the grafshopper-lark; over
M each eye is a milkwhite ftroke ; the chin and throat are white,
“ and the under parts o f a yellowilh white ; the rump is tawny,
“ and the feathers of the tail (harp-pointed; the bill is duiky and
w lharp, and the legs are duiky; the hinder claw long and
“ crooked.” The perfon that Ihot it fays that it fung fo like a
reed-fparrow that he took it for one ; and that it lings all night:
but this account merits farther inquiry. For my part, I fufpedt
it is a fecond fort of locuftella, hinted at by Dr. Derham in Ray's
Letters: fee p. 108. He alfo procured me a grafshopper-lark.
The queftion that you put with regard to thofe genera of
animals that are peculiar to America, viz. how they came there, and
whence ? is too puzzling for me to anfwer; and yet fo obvious as
often to have ftruck me with wonder. I f one looks into the writers
c For this falicaria fee letter AuguJI 30, 1769.
K 2 on