GILBERT WHITE. 
of wild fowl, wliicli not only freqnent it in the winter, but breed 
there in the summer/'- — when up rose nine wild ducks ; they flew 
round two or three times and then went straight away. I looked 
for footmarks round the pond, but could find none of any wading 
birds near the water. A great portion of what was once the 
pond is now a mass of different kinds of mosses. All kinds of 
birds seemed scarce. On the south side of the pond there were 
some large caves in the sandstone; for what purpose they were 
made I cannot say. We then had a turn round the common, 
to try for snakes, vipers, &c., but could find none. 
It will be observed that White writes as follows at page 101 : 
" I wish it was in my power to procure you one of those songsters ; 
but I am no bird-catcher, and so little used to birds in a cage, 
that I fear if I had one it would soon die for want of skill in 
feeding." 
When I undertook the task of re-editing this book I was de- 
termined, if possible, to do my best to implant upon the original 
text as much more information as the space afforded would allow. 
White acknowledged himself that he was no bird-catcher. 
I have been, therefore, most fortunate in obtaining the services 
of Mr. Charles R Davy, bird-catcher, who for tliirty years has 
largely dealt in all kinds of British birds, both " seed-eating " and 
" soft-meat." Mr. Davy is thoroughly conversant, from practical 
observation, with the habits, manners, and treatment of English 
birds. He receives annually large quantities of live birds from 
various parts of England for shipping orders as well as forborne 
distribution. Mr. Davy, Mr. Searle, my secretary, and myself, 
have gone through White's remarks two or three times, and I 
have placed Mr. Davy's observations on record. I trust they 
will be found interesting to my readers. 
At page 14 we read, " The parish swarms with children " — this 
was a hundred years ago. The parish still swarms with children, 
but they are not exactly the same children as in White's time. 
The children that White may have seen, and probably did see, 
are now old Mrs. Small and Mr. Cobb. 
These successive generations following one on to the other 
remind me of a passage in my father's sermon preached before 
the University of Oxford.^ We read in the Dean's sermon : — 
"Erom the universal condition of all organic beings upon 
earth, man himself has no exemption ; to him as to everything 
around him, the inevitable termination of life is death. 
" As of the green leaves on a thick tree, some fall and some 
^ " An Inquiry whether the Sentence of Death Pronounced at the Fall of 
Man included the Whole Animal Creation, or was Restricted to the Human 
Race." Murray, Albemarle Street, 1839. 
Y 
