xxii INTRODUCTION 



Wolleyana"). He is, moreover, the recognised historian of 

 ornithology (cf. the " Encyclopaedia Britannica"). 



I have so much to say regarding Gilbert White and his 

 times, that I do not propose, on the present occasion, to 

 go further into the subject, as much of the material of my 

 memoir is still imperfect. A great deal that has been 

 written about Gilbert White and Selborne appears to me 

 to have been compiled without any trouble having been 

 taken to "verify" the references. One editor is satisfied 

 with having spent "two" days in Selborne, and seems to 

 be quite content with his mastery of the subject. Another 

 editor apparently spends weeks in the place, and has even 

 then not mastered the Hampshire dialect ! 



I have myself spent some weeks in the village, and I 

 now fully realise how difficult it is to identify the Selborne 

 of 1899 with the Selborne of a hundred and fifty years back. 

 Thus I content myself with these few preliminary remarks, 

 since, thanks to researches on the spot, the help of various 

 members of the family, and the knowledge gained from 

 many old people in Selborne, I hope to present to my 

 readers on a future occasion a much more complete record 

 of Gilbert White and Selborne as it was in his time. 



It only remains for me to return my sincere thanks to my 

 colleagues in the MSS. Department of the British Museum 

 for facilities granted in the examination of the Gilbert White 

 Letters ; and to my friends at Selborne, Mr. and Mrs. W. 

 Paxton Parkin ; the Rev. Arthur Kaye ; the Rev. Edmund 

 Field ; Mr. William White, F.S.A., and other kind people, 

 especially Mr. Henry Maxwell, whose assistance will be 

 more fully acknowledged in the course of the more detailed 

 work which I have in preparation. 



I have also great pleasure in acknowledging the notes 

 I have received from my colleagues in the Natural History 

 Museum, Mr. C. W. Andrews, Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., 

 Mr. W. E. de Winton, Mr. Oldfield Thomas, Mr. R. I. 

 Pocock, and others. In the course of editing the present 



