BY TUi; PRESIDENT. 177 



must hasten on to comparatively modern times. One of the earliest, 

 whoso work is still an authority, and a most valuable one, is 

 Montague. He was born in 1747, but the best edition of his book 

 was edited by Professor Ronnie in 1831. This, as you are no doubt 

 aware, is in the form of a dictionary, the only book on ornithology, 

 so far as I know, in that form, and a very useful one it is. A great 

 feature in it is the synonyms. You will find, on consulting it, not 

 only the scientific designation of each bird, but the provincial or 

 local name. Thus you learn that the "dish-washer" is the wagtail; 

 the "market-jew," the chough; the "screech," the missel; the 

 " coddy-moddy," a young gull ; and the " buttorbump," the 

 bittern. Montague's ' Dictionary of British Birds ' is an invaluable 

 book, especially to the young naturalist. 



Perhaps the best known and most read of the comparatively 

 modem authors is White — Gilbert White of Selborne. His work 

 is replete with accurate information, the I'esult of constant, well- 

 directed observation, and is couched in the most simple and 

 charming language. Whether for the information contained in 

 his letters, or their epistolary style, no work is more worthy of 

 perusal by the young than White's ' JSTatural History of Selborne.' 

 I would make it a text-book for all schools. The public estimation 

 in which this work is held is evidenced by the number of editions 

 it has gone through — at least fifty. Perhaps the best known is that 

 edited by Ronnie, but the latest are those edited respectively by 

 the late Frank Buckland, and by our esteemed friend and member 

 of this Society, Mr. J. E. Harting. These are certainly the best. 

 I have them both, and many delightful hours I have spent in their 

 perusal. I can only call to mind a single instance of what may be 

 considered a mistake in "WTiite's whole work. Talking of the frog, 

 he refers to the time when the tadpole's tail " drops off." I need 

 not tell you that the tail of the tadpole does not drop off, but is 

 absorbed. White's accuracy and natural modesty made him state 

 facts of which he was not absolutely assured in a hypothetical 

 form. "I think," he says, "that white owls never hoot." To 

 this Rennie appends a note : " White owls do hoot. I have shot 

 one in the act." Waterton, who held a low opinion of the Pro- 

 fessor's practical knowledge, remarks : " As Mr. Rennie asserts 

 that he has shot a white owl in the act of hooting, I admit that 

 that particular owl did hoot, but no other white owl since the 

 world began ever did hoot." In this I entirely agree with Water- 

 ton. It is the brown or wood owl that hoots ; the white owl 

 screeches, and snores, and makes hideous noises, but never hoots. 



The works of Waterton — the ploasantest and most accurate of 



