554 NATURAL HISTORY 



the common creeper, or Gerthia familiaris : l its nostrils 

 oblong, tail cinereous at the point, the first four quill feathers 

 distinguished on the inner side by two white spots. " He 

 concludes thus : " Migrat solitario sub finem autumni ; turres 

 et muros sedium altiorum adit ; araneas venatur ; saltitando 

 candit ; volatu vago et incerto fertur volucris nmta." You 

 are sure, I trust, that your bird is not the Sitta Europoea. 

 or Nut-hatch. 



I have written so soon, that you may examine your bird 

 well again, before the specimen decays. Your lady's turkey- 

 hen is a most prolific dame; and must, I think, lay herself 

 to death. You persist very laudably in your curious experi- 

 ments on trees. Whenever you recommend my book, which 

 begins to be better known, you lay me under fresh obliga- 

 tions. I am writing my account of the Fern-owl, and en- 

 deavouring to vindicate it from the foul imputation of being 

 a Caprimulgus. My letter will make a fierce appearance 

 with a quotation from Aristotle, and another from Pliny, but 

 whether the R. S. will read it, or whether afterwards they 

 will print it I know not. 2 



With all good wishes for your health and prosperity, I 

 remain 



Your obliged and humble servant, 



GIL. WHITE. 



SELBORNE Nov. 20th, 1792. 



1 Scopoli (op. cit. p. 51) says, "Statura sittoe" that is, the size of the 

 Nut-hatch. ED. 



2 The history of the Fern-owl, so long contemplated and so frequently 

 alluded to, unfortunately it would seem was never completed, the author 

 dying within six months after the date of this letter. ED. 



