BRITISH BIRDS: A GENERAL VIEW 



To the lover and student of nature whose main TWO 



object is the instruction and amusement of his own 



Nature. 



mind, no better pocket-companions could be recom- 

 mended than Thomson's Seasons and Gilbert White's 

 Natural History of Selborne. In the former he will 

 find a delightful guide to the poetry, in the latter 

 a trusty guide to the science of his subject. From 

 both he will catch that sympathy of the heart which 

 is necessary for the successful pursuit of any study, 



10 and, while learning from both the secret and the art 

 of observing, he will scarcely know which more to 

 admire the scientific method of the one or the 

 descriptive charm of the other. Especially is all this 

 true of those eighteenth-century classics when Birds 

 are their more immediate theme. 



Somebody has truly said that a love for Thomson The 

 is synonymous with a love for nature ; but it is going poetry of 

 absurdly wrong to say that a good scientist was lost 

 when Thomson devoted himself to poetry. Rather let 



20 us say an excellent poet was gained when Thomson 

 gave himself up to the study and enjoyment of nature. 

 For poetry is the last expression of science, philosophy, 

 and indeed of all mental attainment : it is the bright 

 consummate flower of a growth of which they are but 

 the root, the stems, and the leaves. It is interesting 

 to know that, next to the natural influences of his 

 native county, bonny Teviotdale, it was the University 

 of Edinburgh where, when he was a student, natural 

 philosophy was the principal study in the Faculty of 



