The Natural History of Selborne 185 



than they can possibly be acquainted with : every kingdom, every 

 province, should have its own monographer. 



The reason perhaps why he mentions nothing of Ray's Ornitho- 

 logy may be the extreme poverty and distance of his country, into 

 which the works of our great naturalist 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 Entomology ; and his characters of his Ordines and 

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

 ventured to alter some of the Linnasan 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 observations of 

 those birds, I never could discover the least degree of rivalry or 

 hostility between the species. 1 



Ray remarks that birds of the gallin<e order, as cocks and hens, 

 partridges, and pheasants, &c., are pufoeratrices, such as dust them- 

 selves, using that method of cleansing their feathers, and ridding 

 themselves of their vermin. As far as I can observe, many birds 

 that dust themselves never wash ; and I once thought that those 

 birds that wash themselves would never dust ; but here I find myself 

 mistaken ; for common house-sparrows are great pulveratrices, 

 being frequently seen grovelling and wallowing in dusty roads ; and 

 yet they are great washers. Does not the skylark dust ? 2 



Query. Might not Mahomet and his followers take one method 

 of purification from these pulveratrices ? because I find from 

 travellers of credit, that if a strict Mussulman is journeying in a 

 sandy desert where no water is to be found, at stated hours he strips 

 off his clothes, and most scrupulously rubs his body over with sand 

 or dust. 



A countryman told me he had found a young fern-owl in the 



1 White, I think, is here in error. Both birds feed on the same sort of insects, 

 which they catch on the wing, and several observers have noticed the swift flying 

 or swooping in a hostile manner at swallows and house-martins. ED. 2 White 

 is correct in this; skylarks wash themselves by dusting. ED. 



