gisborne] 
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY 
231 
Gisborne (Rev. Thomas), 1758-1846 
The Rev. Thomas Gisborne, M.A., Prebendary of Durham, 
was attached from early life to the pursuit of natural history, 
to which his Walks in a Forest bears in many passages ample 
testimony. He deserves mention as a zealous collector of 
rare British birds, and for his great liberality to the Durham 
Museum, of which he was one of the founders and principal 
patrons. The fine collection of British birds which forms 
the foundation of that Museum was munificently purchased 
and presented to the Institution by him, and he never missed 
an opportunity of adding to its value and completeness 
by supplying its deficiencies. He became a Fellow of the 
Linnean Society in the year 1799, and died in the spring of 
1846. 
He does not appear to have intended the undermentioned 
work- — which contains several references to, and footnotes on, 
birds — to apply to any particular forest, as he observes 
that “ The scenes and incidents noticed in the subsequent 
poems are such, with some exceptions, introduced by way of 
contrast, as occur in the Forests of Great Britain.” Yoxall, 
or Yoxhall, Lodge, where he resided, is in the vicinity of 
Lichfield, and some passages relate to that locality. He also 
wrote Poems , Sacred and Moral, An Enquiry into the Duties 
of Men in the Higher and Middle Classes of Society , and 
several works, chiefly theological. 
1794. [Anonymous.] Walks in a Forest: | or, | Poems | descriptive of 
Scenery and Incidents characteristic of j a Forest, j at different 
seasons of the year. | Inscribed to the | Reverend William Mason, 
of Aston, in Yorkshire. | London : | Printed by J. Davis, | for 
J. and J. White, Fleet-street. | mdccxciv. 
Collation — 1 vol. 4to, pp. viii un. + pp. 52. 
Various references to, and footnotes on, British birds. 
Idem. 2nd edit., corrected and enlarged. 8vo. 1796. 
Idem. 3rd edit. 8vo. 1797. 
Idem. 4th edit. Not seen. 
Idem. 5th edit. Not seen. 
Idem. 6th edit. 1 vol. 12mo, pp. vi -f leaf contents + pp. 
130 + 1 1. errata. 1803. 
