LETTER I.. Selborne, _june 30th_, 1769.

SELBORNE, June 30th, 1769.

Dear Sir,--When I was in town last month I partly engaged that I would sometimes 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 out-door 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, RANGED SOMEWHAT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR:--

RAII NOMINA. USUALLY APPEARS ABOUT 1. Wryneck. Jynx, sive The middle of March: Torquilla. harsh note. 2. Smallest Regulus non March 23rd: chirps till willow-wren. cristatus. September. 3. Swallow. Hirundo April 13th. domestica. 4. Martin. Hirundo rustica. Ditto. 5. Sand-martin. Hirundo riparia. Ditto. 6. Blackcap. Atricapilla. Ditto: a sweet, wild note. 7. Nightingale. Luscinia. Beginning of April. 8. Cuckoo. Cuculus. Middle of April. 9. Middle willow-wren. Regulus non Ditto: a sweet, cristatus. plaintive note. 10. Whitethroat. Ficedulae affinis Ditto: mean note; sings on till September. 11. Redstart. Ruticilla. Ditto: more agreeable song. 12. Stone-curlew. OEdicnemus End of March: loud nocturnal whistle. 13. Turtle-dove. Turtur. 14. Grasshopper-lark. Alauda minima Middle April: a small locustae voce sibilous note, till the end of July. 15. Swift. Hirundo apus. About April 27th. 16. Less reed-sparrow. Passer A sweet polyglot, but arundinaceus hurrying; it has the minor. notes of many birds. 17. Land-rail. Ortygometra. A loud, harsh note--crex, crex. 18. Largest willow Regulus non Cantat voce stridula wren. cristatus. locustae; end of April, on the tops of high beeches. 19. Goat-sucker, or Caprimulgus. Beginning of May: fern-owl. chatters by night with a singular noise. 20. Fly-catcher. Stoparola. May 12th: a very mute bird: this is the latest summer bird of passage.

This assemblage of curious and amusing birds belongs to ten several genera of the Linnaean system, and are all of the ordo of passeres save the Jynx and Cuculus, which are picae, and the Charadrius (OEdicnemus) and Rallus (Ortygometra), which are grallae.

These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnaean genera:--

1, Jynx. 13. Columba. 2,6,7,9,10,11,16,18, Motacilla. 17. Rallus. 3,4,5,15, Hirundo. 19. Caprimulgus. 8, Cuculus. 14. Alauda. 12, Charadrius. 20. Muscicapa.

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:--

RAII NOMINA. Redbreast, Wren, Rubecula. Passer These frequent houses, troglodytes. and haunt out-buildings in the winter: eat spiders. Hedge-sparrow, Curruca. Haunt sinks for crumbs and other sweepings. White-wagtail, Yellow-wagtail, Grey-wagtail, Motacilla alba. These frequent shallow Motacilla flava. rivulets near the spring Motacilla cinerea. heads, where they never freeze: eat the aureliae of Phryganea. The smallest birds that walk. Wheatear, OEnanthe. Some of these are to be seen with us the winter through. Whinchat, Stone-chatter, OEnanthe secunda. OEnanthe tertia. Golden-crowned wren, Regulus cristatus. This is the smallest British bird: haunts the tops of tall trees; stays the winter through.

A LIST OF THE WINTER BIRDS OF PASSAGE ROUND THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD, RANGED SOMEWHAT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEAR.

RAII NOMINA. 1. Ring-ousel, Merula torquata. This is a new migration, which I have lately discovered about Michaelmas week, and again about the 14th March. 2. Redwing, Turdus iliacus. About old Michaelmas. 3. Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris. Though a percher by day, roosts on the ground. 4. Royston-crow, Cornix cinerea. Most frequent on downs. 5. Woodcock, Scolopax. Appears about old Michaelmas. 6. Snipe, Gallinago minor. Some snipes constantly breed with us. 7. Jack-snipe, Gallinago minima. 8. Wood-pigeon, OEnas. Seldom appears till late; not in such plenty as formerly. 9. Wild-swan, Cygnus ferus. On some large waters. 10. Wild-goose, Anser ferus. ) 11. Wild-duck, Anas torquata ) minor. 12. Pochard, Anas fera fusca. ) 13. Wigeon, Penelope. ) On our lakes and streams. 14. Teal, breeds with Querquedula. ) us in Wolmer Forest, 15. Gross-beak, Coccothraustes. ) These are only wanderers that 16. Cross-bill, Loxia. ) appear occasionally, and are not 17. Silk-tail, Garrulus ) observant of any bohemicus. regular migration.

The birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnaean genera:--

1,2,3, Turdus. 9,10,11,12,13,14, Anas. 4, Corvus. 15,16, Loxia. 5,6,7, Scolopax. 17, Ampelis. 8, Columba.

Birds that sing in the night are but few.

Nightingale, Luscinia. "In shadiest covert hid." MILTON. Woodlark, Alauda arborea. Suspended in mid air. Less reed-sparrow, Passer arundinaceus Among reeds and willows. minor.

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.

I am, etc.