OF SELBORNE. 185 



in the village that had chickens or ducklings under 

 their care. A boy climbed the tree, and found the 

 young so fledged that they all escaped from him ; but 

 discovered that a good house had been kept : the larder 

 was well stored with provisions ; for he brought down 

 a young blackbird, jay, and house-martin, all clean 

 picked, and some half devoured. The old birds had 

 been observed to make sad havock for some days among 

 the new-flown swallows and martins, which, being but 

 lately out of their nests, had not acquired those powers 

 and command of wing that enable them, when more 

 mature, to set such enemies at defiance. 



LETTER XLIV. 



TO THE SAME. 

 DEAR SIR, SELBORNE, Nov. 30, 1780. 



EVERY incident that occasions a renewal of our corres- 

 pondence will ever be pleasing and agreeable to me. 



As to the wild wood-pigeon, the (Enas or Vinago of 

 Ray 1 , 1 am much of your mind ; and see no reason for 

 making it the origin of the common house-dove: but 

 suppose those that have advanced that opinion may 

 have been misled by another appellation, often given to 

 the (Enasy which is that of stock-dove 2 . 



1 [Columba (Enas, LINN.] 



2 It is curious to observe Gilbert White declaring himself much of the 

 same mind as Pennant in the matter of the stock-dove and the house- 

 dove, and stating subsequently that he readily concurs with his corres- 

 pondent in supposing that house-doves are derived from the small blue 

 rock pigeon. There is no reason to imagine that White ever thought 

 otherwise : but Pennant, whom he seems willing to allow to lead him 

 where, in truth, he had never gone astray, was so far from this view of 

 the subject in 1776 that he then stated expressly that the " small sort that 

 is frequent on most of our cliffs is only a variety of the wild pigeon ;" 

 and that " the tame pigeon, and all its beautiful varieties, derive their 

 origin from one species, the stock dove : the English name implying its 

 being the stock or stem from which the other domestic kinds sprung." 



