294 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 



will make a fierce appearance with a quotation from Aristotle, 

 & another from Pliny : but whether the K, S. will read it : or 

 whether afterwards they will print it, I know not. 



AVith all good wishes for your health and prosperity, I re- 

 main 



Your obliged & humble servant, 



GIL. WHITE. 



Selborne : Nov 1 ' 20th, 1792. 



LETTER XVII. 



MARSH AM TO WHITE. 



Stvatton : Dec. 10. 92. 

 Dear Sir, 

 My thanks are justly due to you for the favour of your 

 obliging letter of the 20 th of Nov r & for Scopoli's description 

 of the Wall-creeper. Although several articles answer ex- 

 actly, yet i must think him a careless describer. e. g. the Bill 

 is somewhat longer than its shanks ; but he does not say the 

 length of either, leaving the reader to suppose what he likes. 

 I tell vou the Bill is above an inch, about one tenth. He does 

 not name the hind-claw being above double the length of the 

 fore-claws. Colour has a large share in the beauty of Birds ! 

 He says the four quil-feathers are distinguished on the inner 

 side with two white spots. These spots are on the upper side, 

 & in the two quils next the body ; the upper spots are white 

 & the lower are yellow ; which he ought not to have over- 

 looked. You will judge better by the enclosed painting *, than 

 my poor description. A young Lady drew them for me, & they 

 appear to me to be very exact copies, & charmingly executed. 



* [This painting in water-colours has been kindly lent to me by Prof. 

 Bell. It represents with much accuracy two of the primary quill- 

 feathers, the fifth and seventh, I believe, from the left wing of a female 

 or \ oung male Certhia, or, as it is now more commonly called, Tichodroma 

 murana, leaving no doubt as to the correctness of the determination of 

 the specimen by Marsham and "White. — A. N.] 



