Volume I Part 8 (1/2)

There is an oestrus, known in these parts to every ploughboy, which, because it is omitted by Linnaeus, is also pa.s.sed over by late writers; and that is the _curvicauda_ of old Mouset, mentioned by Derham in his ”Physico-Theology,” p. 250; an insect worthy of remark for depositing its eggs as it flies in so dextrous manner on the single hairs of the legs and flanks of gra.s.s-horses. But then Derham is mistaken when he advances that this oestrus is the parent of that wonderful star-tailed maggot which he mentions afterwards; for more modern entomologists have discovered that singular production to be derived from the egg, or the _musca chamaeleon_; see Geoffroy, t. xvii. f. 4.

A full history of noxious insects hurtful in the field, garden, and house, suggesting all the known and likely means of destroying them, would be allowed by the public to be a most useful and important work.

What knowledge there is of this sort lies scattered, and wants to be collected; great improvements would soon follow, of course. A knowledge of the properties, economy, propagation, and, in short, of the life and conversation of these animals, is a necessary step to lead us to some method of preventing their depredations.

As far as I am a judge, nothing would recommend entomology more than some neat plates that should well express the generic distinctions of insects according to Linnaeus; for I am well a.s.sured that many people would study insects, could they set out with a more adequate notion of those distinctions than can be conveyed at first by words alone.

LETTER x.x.xV.

SELBORNE, 1771.

Dear Sir,--Happening to make a visit to my neighbour's peac.o.c.ks, I could not help observing that the trains of those magnificent birds appear by no means to be their tails, those long feathers growing not from their _uropygium_, but all up their backs. A range of short brown stiff feathers, about six inches long, fixed in the _uropygium_, is the real tail, and serves as the fulcrum to prop the train, which is long and top-heavy, when set on end. When the train is up, nothing appears of the bird before but its head and neck; but this would not be the case were those long feathers fixed only in the rump, as may be seen by the turkey c.o.c.k when in a strutting att.i.tude. By a strong muscular vibration these birds can make the shafts of their long feathers clatter like the swords of a sword-dancer; they then trample very quick with their feet, and run backwards towards the females.

I should tell you that I have got an uncommon _calculus aegogropila_, taken out of the stomach of a fat ox; it is perfectly round, and about the size of a large Seville orange; such are, I think, usually flat.

LETTER x.x.xVI.

_Sept._, 1771.

Dear Sir,--The summer through I have seen but two of that large species of bat which I call _vespertilio altivolans_, from its manner of feeding high in the air; I procured one of them, and found it to be a male, and made no doubt, as they accompanied together, that the other was a female; but, happening in an evening or two to procure the other likewise, I was somewhat disappointed, when it appeared to be also of the same s.e.x. This circ.u.mstance, and the great scarcity of this sort, at least in these parts, occasions some suspicions in my mind whether it is really a species, or whether it may not be the male part of the more known species, one of which may supply many females, as is known to be the case in sheep and some other quadrupeds. But this doubt can only be cleared by a farther examination, and some attention to the s.e.x, of more specimens: all that I know at present is, that my two were amply furnished with the parts of generation, much resembling those of a boar.

In the extent of their wings they measured fourteen inches and a half, and four inches and a half from the nose to the tip of the tail; their heads were large, their nostrils bilobated, their shoulders broad and muscular, and their whole bodies fleshy and plump. Nothing could be more sleek and soft than their fur, which was of a bright chestnut colour; their maws were full of food, but so macerated that the quality could not be distinguished; their livers, kidneys, and hearts were large, and their bowels covered with fat. They weighed each, when entire, full one ounce and one drachm. Within the ear there was somewhat of a peculiar structure that I did not understand perfectly! but refer it to the observation of the curious anatomist. These creatures sent forth a very rancid and offensive smell.

LETTER x.x.xVII.

SELBORNE, 1771.

Dear Sir,--On the 12th July I had a fair opportunity of contemplating the motions of the _caprimulgus_, or fern-owl, as it was playing round a large oak that swarmed with _scarabaei solst.i.tiales_, or fern-chafers.

The powers of its wing were wonderful, exceeding, if possible, the various evolutions and quick turns of the swallow genus. But the circ.u.mstance that pleased me most was, that I saw it distinctly, more than once, put out its short leg while on the wing, and, by a bend of the head, deliver somewhat into its mouth. If it takes any part of its prey with its foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of its middle toe, which is curiously furnished with a serrated claw.

Swallows and martins, the bulk of them I mean, have forsaken us sooner this year than usual; for on September 22nd they rendezvoused in a neighbour's walnut-tree, where it seemed probable they had taken up their lodging for the night. At the dawn of the day, which was foggy, they arose all together in infinite numbers, occasioning such a rus.h.i.+ng from the strokes of their wings against the hazy air, as might be heard to a considerable distance: since that no flock has appeared, only a few stragglers.

Some swifts stayed late, till the 22nd August--a rare instance! for they usually withdraw within the first week.

On September 24th three or four ring-ousels appeared in my fields for the first time this season; how punctual are these visitors in their autumnal and spring migrations!

LETTER x.x.xVIII.

SELBORNE, _March 15th_, 1773.

Dear Sir,--By my journal for last autumn it appears that the house-martins bred very late, and stayed very late in these parts; for, on the 1st October, I saw young martins in their nest nearly fledged; and again, on the 21st October, we had at the next house a nest full of young martins just ready to fly; and the old ones were hawking for insects with great alertness. The next morning the brood forsook their nest, and were flying round the village. From this day I never saw one of the swallow kind till November 3rd, when twenty, or perhaps thirty, house-martins were playing all day long by the side of the hanging wood, and over my field. Did these small weak birds, some of which were nestling twelve days ago, s.h.i.+ft their quarters at this late season of the year to the other side of the northern tropic? Or rather, is it not more probable that the next church, ruin, chalk-cliff, steep covert, or perhaps sandbank, lake, or pool (as a more northern naturalist would say), may become their _hybernaculum_, and afford them a ready and obvious retreat?

We now begin to expect our vernal migration of ring-ousels every week.