Nol x!.| 148 
Two paintings by Pieter Witthoos, painted about 1670, 
showing various familiar birds, but among which is a picture 
from life of the Reunion White Dodo. 
Mr. H. Kirke Swann showed some early books on British 
Ornithology and made the following remarks :— 
I have brought this evening a small selection of the 
earlier works on British Ornithology, covering the period 
before the appearance of Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds’ (1837-43). 
The first book dealing with British birds, Turner’s ‘ Avium 
Preecipuarum’ of 1544, is not shown as it is well known from 
Mr. Evans’s reprint of 1903, and is really a general ornitho- 
logy derived from classical authors. The first list of British 
birds appears in Merrett’s ‘ Pinax,’ of which the edition 
shown is the second, or 1667, issue of the first edition. The 
next work shown is Charleton’s, the 1677 edition, which 
gives English names of birds with some figures, followed by 
Willughby and Ray’s celebrated ‘ Ornithology’ of 1678, first 
published in Latin in 1676. The works of Albin and 
Hdwards were the most important published during the 
next half century, but although both contained coloured 
plates of many British birds neither was restrieted to British 
ornithology, the first work so restricted being Pennant’s 
folio ‘ British Zoology’ of 1766. These three works being 
too bulky for exhibition, I am showing only a specimen plate 
from each. I am, however, showing the original edition of 
Tunstall’s ‘Ornithologia Britannica,’ 1771, which gives the 
scientific names of Pennant’s birds. This was followed by 
Hayes’s folio volume of 1775 (a very imperfect attempt) by 
Walcott’s ‘Synopsis’ of 1789, and by Lewin’s beautiful 
work in 7 vols. folio, commenced in the same year, and re- 
issued shortly after in 8 vols., 4to, with much inferior 
plates ; a specimen of each is exhibited as well as an original 
drawing by Lewin. This brings us to the date of Gilbert 
White’s ‘Natural History of Selborne, of which I am 
showing a first edition, and to the numerous works on 
British birds which then began to appear. I am showing 
a number of the less bulky of these, concluding with a 
