25 [Vol. xxxiii. 



and collectors to the strange and gorgeous specimens of far 

 distant and tropic climes. There was, in fact, a danger of 

 considering the study of British Ornithology as an explored 

 and exhausted subject, and one which had nothing more to 

 yield to the enquirer.- Pennant, the leading authority of the 

 day, had followed the prevailing fashion; with the completion 

 oE the fourth edition of his ' British Zoology/ which appeared 

 in 1776, he had turned his attention elsewhere, and having 

 completed the second edition of his ' Indian Zoology/ and 

 compiled three volumes of an ' Arctic Zoology' on second- 

 hand information, was contemplating an ambitious work 

 entitled the l Outlines of the Globe/ which was to have been 

 completed in 14 folio volumes. At the time, moreover, when 

 the 'Natural History of Selborne* appeared the literature of 

 British Ornithology may be said to have fallen to the lowest 

 depth in its history. The spirit of enterprise and research 

 which had been inspired by Ray and Willughby had passed 

 away, and it is only necessary to mention the names of the 

 pretentious but absolutely worthless compilations * of the 

 period to show how badly a new and revivifying force was 

 needed. The revival that followed the appearance of the 

 ' Natural History ' was owing entirely to the example of 

 Gilbert White ; his work it was that inspired George Montagu 

 to write his famous ' Ornithological Dictionary ' and later 

 directly influenced the labours of MacGillivray and Yarrell. 

 It had, moreover, an important effect in directing the 

 attention of naturalists to the objects of their immediate 

 neighbourhood and thus stimulating the production of the 

 numerous local Faunas which have played such an important 

 part in the study of British Ornithology. That White had 

 the intelligence to comprehend how much was to be done in 

 this direction is obvious to all careful readers of his work ; 



* It must here suffice to mention William Hay6's ' Natural History 

 of British Birds,' London, 1775, 1 vol., imp. folio. John Walcott's 

 i Synopsis of British Birds,' London, 1789, 2 vols., 4to. William Lewin's 

 ' Birds of Great Britain,' London, 1789, 7 vols., imp. 4to. Thomas 

 Lord's 'Entire New System of Ornithology, or Oecunemical History of 

 British Birds,' London, 1791, 1 vol., folio., and Edward Donovan's 

 ' Natural History of British Birds,' London, 1794, 10 vols., 8vo. 



