THE ZOOLOGIST. 
THIRD SERIES. 
Vou. IV.] AUGUST, 1880. [No. 44. 
DR. LAMB’S “ORNITHOLOGIA BERCHERIA.” 
In an account of the Birds of Oxfordshire and its neighbour- 
hood, by the Messrs. Matthews, printed in ‘The Zoologist’ for 
1849, the authors refer to “‘ an old MS. list of birds, collected by 
the late Dr. Lamb, of Newbury, extending as far back as the 
latter part of the last century,’ and which was lent for their 
perusal by Dr. Tomkins, of Abingdon (Zool. 1849, p. 2423). 
This list, it would seem, was originally intended for pub- 
lication in the ‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society,’ and was 
forwarded for that purpose, about the year 1814, to Thomas 
Marsham, who was then Treasurer of that Society. For some 
reason, however, it never appeared, and the original MS., as we 
learn from the Assistant Secretary, was either lost or mislaid 
during the subsequent removal of the Society from the rooms 
formerly occupied in Soho Square. A copy, however, is in the 
possession of the Rev. W. Smith Tomkins, of Weston-super-Mare, 
who has kindly placed it at the disposal of the Editor for pub- 
lication in ‘The Zoologist.’ Although the points of interest are 
not very great, the List is a curious one from the date at which it 
was prepared, while its value lies chiefly in the trustworthy 
records of species, now rare or uncommon, made by an observant 
resident in the county of Berks. It is here presented as the 
author left it, without any alteration, and with no other additions 
than those which appear editorially in the shape of foot-notes. 
Dr. Lamb, it may be observed, was a friend and correspondent 
of Latham, who published some of his communications in the 
second Supplement to his ‘ Synopsis.’ 
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