1 66 'The Natural History of Selborne 



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 l : 



tion : Barrington was a dilettante theorist who generally desired confirma- 

 tion of his often hasty and sometimes inaccurate priori ideas. It is, 

 therefore, undesirable to mix up the two sets, both because of the difference 

 of their original scope, and also because, in White's own judgment, it was 

 best to keep the personalities separate. Daines Barrington (1727-1800) 

 was the fourth son of the first Lord Barrington, and was a barrister by 

 profession. A dabbler in many directions, he was a person of importance 

 in his own day, but is now chiefly remembered through these letters. ED. 

 1 In this list I have not attempted to give the accepted modern scientific 

 names. In most cases the English name sufficiently designates the birds 

 intended for all who wish to identify them. Where there is doubt, as in the 

 case of the so-called " wild goose," or the largest willow-wren, it is not 

 easy to decide which is the exact species that White intended. Moreover, 

 the question is purely otiose. The nomenclature of ornithology is a very 

 difficult subject, and no two writers are quite agreed as to the identification 

 of early descriptions. ED. 



