634 Birds. 



Notes on the Birds of the Isle of Wight. By The Rev. C. A. Bury. 



(Continued from p. 524). 



In my former paper I stated, and shall state in this, and in any 

 future communication, upon what authority I give the various birds 

 described as belonging to the Fauna of the Isle of Wight. My doing 

 so may appear tedious to some of your readers ; but I think others 

 will duly appreciate the measure of exactness thus imparted to my 

 information. It would be easier for me, and it would occupy less of 

 your space, if I merely stated that such a bird is common, uncommon, 

 an occasional visitor, &c, appending such polysyllables as are under- 

 stood by the initiated, and admitted by them as sufficiently descrip- 

 tive. But I write equally for the uninitiated, and wish to be intelli- 

 gible to all. I would therefore rather incur the charge of tediousness 

 than that of indefiniteness; I would gladly, if I could, make my com- 

 munications interesting to the general reader, to whom the bare mat- 

 ters of fact, on which the naturalist loves to ruminate, are, in truth, 

 but dry bones. I am desirous to interest the young especially ; for I 

 maintain that if ' The Zoologist' succeed in imparting a more general 

 taste for Natural History, and in stimulating those who shall have ac- 

 quired the taste to a study of some one or more of its branches ; it 

 will have effected no unimportant object. If, therefore, I can, by the 

 occasional mention of little incidents which may have occurred in the 

 course of my rambles ; or by allusions to persons, times, and places, 

 which may not be strictly pertinent or necessary, infuse a little life 

 into what would otherwise consist of dry details, I shall not have 

 wasted your space or my own time ; perhaps not that of even your 

 scientific readers, for one advantage will accrue to them, viz., it will 

 be in their power to form their own judgment, as to how far this or 

 that bird may be said to be common, or uncommon ; and then to ap- 

 ply their peculiar phraseology. Moreover, common honesty seems to 

 require the adoption of such a course. I have not personally exa- 

 mined every wood and glade, much less every creek and bay belong- 

 ing to our island. I must, therefore, state much on the authority of 

 others, who have explored parts to which I may be nearly or altoge- 

 ther a stranger. To some I am indebted for the result of many years' 

 patient and accurate observation before I became an inhabitant of the 

 island. To them, one and all, I feel under great obligation, and trust 

 they will excuse the mention of their names, whenever such mention 

 may suit my purpose. I will, once for all, assure both you and your 



