206 GILBERT WHITE AND OTHERS 



the species were all Sylviidce, in which family, as you 

 are aware, Mr. Seebohm has attained great critical 

 reputation, I thought I would take 'them with me to 

 town, open the box there and compare them with his 

 series, which I had not seen for several years. To my 

 infinite amazement I found that he could not recognise 

 some of our commonest English birds. He insisted on 

 a common Sedge- Warbler being a Reed- Wren, and 

 notwithstanding the wonderful rules he has laid down 

 for infallibly distinguishing the Willow- Wren and the 

 Chiffchaff he was no better than anybody else in deter- 

 mining them, when it came to actual specimens.* 



In spite of the hard things which Newton wrote of 

 Seebohm, they continued perfectly friendly until the 

 death of the latter in 1895. 



* Letter to Rev. A. C. Smith, November 30, 1883. 



