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SOME EARLY BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS 

 AND THEIR WORKS. 



BY 

 W. H. MULLENS, M.A., LL.M., M.B.O.U. 



VII.—JOHN RAY (1627—1705) AND FRANCIS 



WILLUGHBY (1635—1672). 



(Plate VI. ) 



The names of John Ray and Francis Willughby, the 

 founders of scientific ornithology in this country, must 

 ever be held in equal honour and esteem. Of very 

 different origin — Willughby being a country gentleman 

 of means, descended from a long line of illustrious 

 ancestors, and Ray the poor son of a village blacksmith — 

 a common devotion to the study of natural history made 

 them close friends and zealous fellow workers. "Together 

 they studied, together they travelled, and together they 

 collected." To separate their joint work or to credit 

 one with a greater share in devising the scientific classi- 

 fication of the subjects they studied, is as impossible 

 as it is invidious. The misfortune of Willughby 's pre- 

 mature death, and the fact that his posthumous works 

 were edited by his friend, and that the latter became not 

 only an eminent ornithologist, but also world-famous 

 as a botanist, have undoubtedly tended to obscure 

 Willughby 's claim to an equal recognition. Had he, 

 however, been spared to accomplish his allotted share 

 of their joint labours he would undoubtedly have achieved 

 as great a reputation as his famous friend. In the course 

 of their investigations these two eminent men having 

 become " dissatisfied with the status of natural history, 

 agreed to attempt a systematic description of the whole 

 organic world," in which their different parts were 

 apportioned according to the following method, as is 

 detailed by Dr. Derham from information he received 

 when he visited John Ray at Black Notley in May, 1704 

 {Memorials of Ray, p. 33) : " For these two gentlemen, 



