ABSTRACT
A special respect was reserved by White for the hard-working and provident creatures among his parish fauna. The unwearying swallow, collecting food for her young ones throughout the hours of daylight, is an 'instructive pattern' of loyalty and industry, he says. In a different but not altogether unrelated mood, and in the interest of his gardening and that of his neighbours, he hunted out wasps and, it has to be added, shot the birds which plundered his fruit bushes; or had them shot, for perhaps with a twinge of conscience, he generally passed on this task to one or other of his helpers.1
