The Natural History of Selborne

The tortoise keeps close.

The tortoise puts-out his head int he morning.

Sowed carrots, parsneps, planted potatoes.  Ground works well.  Tortoise sleeps.

The tortoise is quite awake, & came-out all day long: towards evening it buried itself in part.

We took the tortoise out of it’s box, & buried it in the garden: but the weather being warm it heaved up the mould, & walked twice down to the bottom of the long walk to survey the premises.

No turnips to be seen on the road. Green plovers on the common. The uncrested wren, the smallest species, called in this place the Chif-chaf, is very loud in the Lythe. This is the earliest summer bird of passage, & the harbinger of spring. It has only two piercing notes.

Brought away Mrs Snooke’s old tortoise, Timothy, which she valued much, & had treated kindly for near 40 years.  When dug out of it’s hybernaculum, it resented the Insult by hissing.

Mrs. Snooke was buried.

Chaffinches sing but in a shorter way than in Hants.

No turnips to be seen on the road.