1 64 '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 1 : 



times inaccurate a 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. 



