HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G OSSIP. 



213 



■any one who had seen this species in the neighbour- 

 hood. Not being a bird noted for its flying powers, 

 I am totally at a loss to account for its breeding here, 

 and more so that it ever got here to breed. — F. Pratl, 

 Ripoit. 



Gilbert White. — Doubtless there are many who 

 could endorse the remarks of Mrs. Watney about the 

 ignorance of the Selborne rustics. Five years ago 

 this summer, the plan of my holiday trip into Hamp- 

 shire and West Sussex included Selborne in my 

 homeward course, and on passing through the village 

 from the southern end, I made inquiries of the first 

 adult person (a woman) i-especting the house in which 

 the Rev. Gilbert White lived. Her answer was, as near 

 as I can recollect: "I don't know who 'e is ; I 

 don't know 'im— never 'eard on 'im !" The church 

 and graveyard are some distance up from the Rogate 

 end of Selborne at which I entered, and wishing to 

 avoid the possibility of having to retrace my steps, I 

 interrogated one or two other persons before I was 

 rightly informed; and, on this occasion, it was by an 

 apparently intelligent workman, occupied then in 

 cutting the grass on the " many a mould'ring heap" 

 in the churchyard. The fact recorded of the Sel- 

 borne folks is only one of the many instances that 

 have for ever been observed in civilized countries since 

 the words of Him who suffered more than any one 

 his countrymen's disregard, were uttered — "A pro- 

 phet hatli no honour in his own country." — George 

 Ncivlyn. 



Gilbert White's Grave. — Allow me to thank 

 Mr. R. F. Leckey for what, I have no doubt, he 

 intended to be a well-meant correction of my state- 

 ment respecting the grave of the above-mentioned 

 widely-known writer on and lover of natural history. 

 I sought Gilbert White's grave according to the 

 directions given by Edward Jesse, Esq. I looked for 

 the fifth grave from the north wall of the chancel, 

 and I found it covered up (as I stated in the note 

 alluded to by Mr. R. F. Leckey) between bricks, old 

 mortar, slates, and rubbish. This was on my first 

 visit to Selborne some six months ago. On my 

 second visit, paid in June, to inspect the old stone 

 coffins lately discovered between the nave and the 

 south aisle, I was exceedingly pleased to find that all 

 the debris had been removed from Gilbert White's 

 grave. It looked clean and trim, the head-stone 

 being uncovered, and the inscription 



"G W 



26 June 

 1793" 

 was readable. My remarks in a London paper had, 

 I was told, been instrumental in effecting so desirable 

 a result ; and a friend of mine, a member of the 

 Athenaeum, tells me that there is a movement in the 

 right direction amongst literary men towards erecting 

 a proper monument to the good old naturalist's 

 memory in Selborne churchyard. Did time permit, 

 I should like to send you an account of the stone 

 coffins and their contents. — Helen E. Watney. 



Birds' Eggs. — As some time has now elapsed 

 since the editor, in the June number of this paper, 

 congratulated "The Woolhope Club" upon its 

 having abolished its practice of giving a reward for 

 the best collection of birds' eggs, and no abler pen 

 than mine has made any comments upon this subject, 

 although discussion was invited, I venture to make 

 the following remarks in favour of birds-nesting: — 



1. In no other way would so good a knowledge be 

 likely to be obtained of the different kinds of nests 

 built, and the places where they are to be found. 



2. Were it not for birds-nesting, a great number of 



persons would grow up in almost total ignorance of 

 ornithology. 3. That as most wild birds lay at least 

 twice during tlie season, it can be no greater hardship 

 to take their eggs than to take ordinary hens' eggs. 

 4. Several of the commonest birds would become far 

 too numerous were it not for this practice. In con- 

 clusion, I think it would have been far better if the 

 Woolhope Club, instead of ceasing to give their 

 reward for the best collection of eggs, had required 

 each competitor, at the time of presenting his collec- 

 tion, to pass an easy examination in his knowledge 

 of the birds whose eggs he had collected. — A Birds- 

 nester. 



The Goatsucker. — Referring to the article on 

 the above bird in your journal. No. 151, July ist, 

 1877, it is there stated that "our one English repre- 

 sentative is limited to the southern and south-eastern 

 counties, seldom extending far inland." This, how- 

 ever, is pointed out as a mistake by a Dumfries cor- 

 respondent in No. 152, August ist, 1877, so far as 

 concerns the south and south-eastern counties ; and 

 as it is always desirable to submit circumstantial 

 evidence of a fact, I beg to point out that your 

 readers will find, on page lOl of " The Life of a 

 Scotch Naturalist," by Smiles, reference made to the 

 bird as an inhabitant of the county of Banff. The 

 work referred to is the Life of Edward, the now 

 notorious shoemaker. The paragraph in which the 

 reference is made is one of great beauty: " The sun 

 went down. The mellow thrush, which had been 

 pouring forth his requiem to the parting day, was 

 now silent. The lark flew to its mossy bed, the 

 swallow to its nest. The wood-pigeon had uttered 

 his last coo before settling down for the night. The 

 hum of the bee was no longer heard. The grass- 

 hopper had sounded his last chirp ; and all seemed 

 to have sunk to sleep. Yet Nature is never at rest. 

 The owl began to utter his doleful and melancholy 

 wail ; the night-jar [Caprtjniil^ns Enropaus) was 

 still out with his spinning- wheel-like birr, birr ; and 

 the lightsome roe, the pride of the lowland woods, 

 was emitting his favourite night bark." I may add 

 that I have myself seen this bird as far inland as 

 North Wilts and North Gloucester.— J. E. Stephens, 

 Alloa, N.B. 



The Goatsucker.— In Mr. Whistler's interest- 

 ing paper on the goatsucker, he asks if the bird 

 ever jars when on the wing. I am not an orni- 

 thologist, but the bird is a very frequent and very 

 near neighbour of mine during summer evening walks, 

 and I should have been inclined to say that it most 

 decidedly does jar when on the wing ; I should also 

 feel tempted to add a note to the perfect noiselessness 

 of the flight. The ordinary flight is certainly quite 

 silent, but I have noticed that every now and then 

 it will suddenly be accompanied by a loud flapping 

 noise, which will' last for a minute or so. My im- 

 pression is, that this is produced voluntarily, and 

 usually when a pair, male and female, are wheeling 

 round after one another ; but perhaps Mr. Whistler, 

 or some of your readers, can give a better explana- 

 tion.— y4//v;Y D. Michael. 



The Goatsucker.— I think Mr. C. W. Whistler 

 has given rather too restricted a i^ange to the Goat- 

 sucker. It is not at all an uncommon bird in the 

 Westmoreland Lake district, where it is almost 

 universally called the fern-owl, and I have heard its 

 peculiar note very frequently near Lake Windermere. 

 — A. y. Adams, Rotherhani. 



Birds' Nests and Eggs. — We hear and see and 

 read a great deal these days about "Oology" and 

 "Oologists," l:)ut I am afraid that this science of eggs 



