mon chnm; but the oxygen of the atmosphere occasion the churning was carried on for the 

 is brought into close contai:t with tlie cream, so space of one hour and forty-five minutes, and 

 as to effect a full combination of the butyraceous eleven gallons of cream produced twenty-six 

 part, ai}d lo convert it all into butter. Ou one I pounds of butter. [London Fanners' Mag. 



REV. GILBERT WHITE'S NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



THE LAJ^GIIAGE OF BIRDS CHARACTER, AND HABITS OF THE 



WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



It would be about as easy to " gild refined 

 gold, ' as, with our pen, to add anything to the 

 force of the following essay, recommending ev- 

 ery one in the country to habituate himself to 

 noting all facts which may serve to extend the 

 knowledge of Natural History. ^Vith such a 

 habit, there is scarcely a school-boy who might 

 not impart something new to the book-learned 

 student of Nature. Who is it that cannot trace 

 much of all his knowledge of tliis sort to his ob- 

 servation of facts while he was even j^et in his 

 teens ? And, seeing tlie progress of modera 

 discovery in evei"y walk of Science, who shall 

 set limits to what remains to be developed ? 



The inexhaustible resources for recreation 

 and amusement which such a habit opens for 

 him who once catches the inspiration, make for 

 him those moments the most delightfiil, which 

 hang like an incubus on the spirits of the listless, 

 uncultivated drone. Walks and ride.s, that to 

 the latter prove monotonous and fatiguing, to 

 the foiTner reveal, at every step, food for medita- 

 tion, and elements of knowledge, elegant or 

 useful. It is impossible for those who will not 

 cultivate a sensibility to the beauties and vai-ie- 

 ties of Nature, in her humbler walks and works, 

 to know how much there is to challenge their 

 admiration in the most beaten paths of rural life 

 and occupations. If he would be persuaded of 

 this, let him take up, for instance, the " Natu- 

 ral History of Selbokne, by the late 

 Rev. Gilbert White." 



Selbome is a single parish in the County of 

 Hampshire, England — affording, as might be 

 supposed, in a scope so limited, but slender con- 

 tributions to the stock of Natural History ; but 

 let him who may .so conclude, put this delight- 

 ful little volume in his overcoat pocket, the first 

 time he has to make a journey by railroad or 

 steamboat, on which he may have either no ac- 

 quaintance, or may wish to escape from being 

 bored by some male or she metaphysician in 

 religion or politics ; and our word for it, that, 

 with such a pocket companion, he will find 

 (810) 



his journey more than one-half shortened. — 

 To say more of the fruitfulness of the subject, 

 and the expediency of cultivating a fondness 

 for it, as illustrated by the.se notes of a cler- 

 gyman and a scholar, in the confines of a 

 single parish, would lead us on to a review 

 of the book, which is not our design — the 

 more especially as we contemplate a better use 

 of it, some day, for the readers of the Farm- 

 EPs' Library. The occasion, however, would 

 seem to suggest the expression of regret that 

 the minds of our clergymen should so rarely 

 take the turn in -which this amiable and engag- 

 ing English pastor found the means of hallow- 

 in?, with such agreeable association.s, the name 

 of his parish and his own. 



To them, and, more cspeciallj', those of them 

 who reside in the country, Natural History, in 

 almost all its branches, appears in a peculiar 

 manner to offer attraction and reward. Unfor- 

 tunately, however, we are too apt to conclude 

 that no ingenuity can impart interest for others 

 to subjects which daily notice may have made 

 familiar to ourselves ; while, in truth, the man 

 of simplest tastes, with feelings attuned to Na- 

 ture, has but to betake himself to the most fre- 

 quented highway, and thereupon make a senti- 

 mental journey ! We will here, for example, 

 take up on the spot, as it lies within reach, these 

 SEtid simple sketches of the Natural Hi.story of a 

 single old English pari.sh. and transfer, hap- 

 hazard, a single chapter as it may open to us. 



Well, it chances to be the one at page 260, 

 on the "Language of Birds." Now, reader, 

 mark what he makes even of the familiar sub- 

 ject of Barn-Door Fowls and their habits ! 



From the motion of birds, the transition is 

 natural enough to their notes and language. o\ 

 which I shall .say something. Not that I wou.d 

 pretend to understand their language, like the 

 vizier, who, by the recital of a conversation 

 which passed between two owls, reclaimed a 

 sultan," before dcliehting in cou<iuest and de- 

 vastation ; but I would be thought only to name 

 that many of the winged tribes have various 



See Spectator, Vol. vii. No. 512. 



