202 GILBEKT WHITE OF SELBORNE 1739 



inhabitant of this part, but they are scarce and partial : 

 three only have I discovered, two of which I brought down 

 with my gun from the top of tall oak trees, in a thick grove 

 interspersed with brambles. From their reiterated note, 

 somewhat resembling the blue titmouse, and their colour 

 being more vivid than the other species, I do not hesitate to 

 pronounce it that discovered by you, though mine did not 

 possess any white on the tips of the quill, or secondary 

 feather, but the belly was of a pure white, and the action of 

 its wings agrees with your description: besides the note 

 it commonly uses which is somewhat grasshopper-like, it 

 produces a shrill note five or six times repeated something 

 like the marsh titmouse. One pair of these birds I only 

 know of about this neighbourhood now, the nest of which 

 I have not been fortunate enough to discover : if one should 

 come across you it would be an acquisition to me. You are 

 perfectly right in saying the name of Willow Wren is very 

 inadequate. I wish you had given them distinct names, 

 as I believe you have the merit of the original discovery. 

 I am surprised Pennant makes no mention of these acquisi- 

 tions to ornithology, as your letter of the 17th of Augt. 1768 

 long preceeded his last ed^ Do you know if Latham has 

 adopted them in his 'Systema Ornithologise,' which is to 

 come before the publick next winter. 



I am at a loss for your blue pigeon-hawk especially as you 

 say its female is brown: from its place of resort I should 

 conceive it to be the ITen harrier and that you had not 

 corrected the mistake of other ornithologists, and which 

 Pennant fell into in his first edition where he gave the 

 Bingtail for its female. Their habits and manners are 

 nearly the same only the latter perch on trees occasionally : 

 its white rump at once distinguishes it from all others when 

 skiming over the surface of the earth : like the Henharrier it 

 makes its nest on the ground. Both these species we have, 

 but not preserved, having not been able to procure them. 



