122 SCOPOLI'S AJWTTS PRIMUS. 



witness to such a fact. I have only to remark, that the long 

 unwieldy bill of the woodcock is, perhaps, the worst adapted 

 of any among the winged creation for such a feat of natural 

 affection. 



LETTER XXXYIII. 



TO THE HON. DAIKES BARRTNGTOlir. 



KiGMER, near LEWES, October 8, 1770. 



DEAR SIR, I am glad to hear that Kuekalm is to furnish 

 you with the birds of Jamaica. A sight of the Mr undines 

 of that hot and distant island would be a great entertain- 

 ment to me. 



The Anni of Scopoli are now in my possession ; and I 

 have read the Annus Primus with satisfaction ; for, though 

 some parts of this work are exceptionable, and he may 

 advance some mistaken observations, yet the ornithology of 

 so distant a country as Carniola is very curious. Men that 

 undertake only one district, are much more likely to advance 

 natural knowledge, than those that grasp at more than they 

 can possibly be acquainted with. Every kingdom, every 

 province, should have its own monographer. 



The reason perhaps, why he mentions nothing of Bay's 

 Ornithology, may be the extreme poverty and distance of his 

 country, into which the works of our great naturalists may 

 have never yet found their way. You have doubts, I know, 

 whether this Ornithology is genuine, and really the work of 

 Scopoli : as to myself, I think I discover strong tokens of 

 authenticity ; the style corresponds with that of his Ento- 

 mology ; and his characters of his Ordines and Genera are 

 many of them new, expressive, and masterly. He has 

 ventured to alter some of the Linnsean genera, with sufficient 

 show of reason. 



It might, perhaps, be mere accident that you saw so many 

 swifts and no swallows at Staines ; because, in my long 

 observation of those birds, I never could discover the least 

 degree of rivalry or hostility between the species.* 



* There are few birds which appear to possess less of angry passions than 



