LETTERS TO THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON. WH LETTER I. SELBORNE, June 30th, 1769. WHEN I was in town last month I partly engaged that I would sometime do myself the honour to write to you on the subject of natural history; and I am the more ready to fulfil my promise, because I see you are a gentleman of great candour, and one that will make allowances; especially where the writer professes to be an outdoor naturalist, one that takes his observations from the subject itself, and not from the writings of others. THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE SUMMER BIRDS OF PASSAGE WHICH I HAVE DISCOVERED IN THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD, ORDER IN WHICH THEY RANGED SOMEWHAT IN THE APPEAR RAII NOMINA. USUALLY APPEARS ABOUT 1. Wryneck. Junx, sive torquilla. The middle of March: harsh 2. Smallest wil-{Regulus non crista 3. Swallow, 4. Martin, Hirundo domestica. Hirundo rustica. note. (March 23rd: chirps till September. Ditto. USUALLY APPEARS ABOUT 9. Middle willow-f Regulus non crista- [Middle of April: a sweet tus. RAII NOMINA. wren, Hirundo apus. plaintive note. (Ditto: mean note; sings on till September. Ditto: more agreeable song. End of March: loud nocturnal whistle. Middle of April: a small sibilous note, till end of July. About April 27th. he 16. Less reed-spar- { Passer arundinaceus A sweet polyglot, but hurry, row, 17. Land-ra minor. Ortygometra. it has the notes of many birds. A loud harsh note, 66 crex, crex." Cantat voce stridulâ locustæ; end of April, on the tops of high beeches. Beginning of May: chatters by night with a singular noise. This assemblage of curious and amusing birds belongs to ten several genera of the Linnæan system; and are all of the ordo of passeres save the jynx and cuculus, which are pica, and the charadrius (Oedicnemus) and rallus (ortygometra), which are gralla. These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnæan genera :— Most soft-billed birds live on insects, and not on grain and seeds; and therefore at the end of summer they retire: but the following soft-billed birds, though insect-eaters, stay with us the year round : A LIST OF THE WINTER BIRDS OF PASSAGE ROUND THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD, RANGED SOMEWHAT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR : These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnæan genera :— Birds that sing in the night are but few :— I should now proceed to such birds as continue to sing after midsummer, but, as they are rather numerous, they would exceed the bounds of this paper; besides, as this is now the season for remarking on that subject, I am willing to repeat my observations on some birds concerning the continuation of whose song I seem at present to have some doubt. LETTER II. SELBORNE, Nov. 2nd, 1769. WHEN I did myself the honour to write to you about the end of last June on the subject of natural history, I sent you a list of the summer birds of passage which I have observed in this neighbourhood; and also a list of the winter birds of passage: I mentioned besides those softbilled birds that stay with us the winter through in the south of England, and those that are remarkable for singing in the night. According to my proposal, I shall now proceed to such birds (singing birds strictly so called) as continue in full song till after midsummer; and shall range them somewhat in the order in which they first begin to open as the spring advances. |