INTRODUCTION. 
THE man who takes up his pen to write a History of 
the Birds of Hampshire may well feel somewhat 
daunted by the task. Not only is the county large and 
diversified in character, and therefore very rich in bird-life, 
but it contains within its borders the historic village of 
Selborne, in which it might be said, with little exaggera- 
tion, that the study of British Ornithology first took its 
rise. 
And from the days of Gilbert White onwards, the 
birds of Hampshire have been studied and loved by many 
notable people. 
Jane Austen has peeped at our dabchicks, and Hawker 
has Iain in ambush for our wild swans, Kingsley has 
petted our flycatchers, and Keble has thanked God for our 
nightingales. Tennyson has sketched the characters of 
many of our common birds in happy vignettes of song, 
and Charlotte Yonge has enlivened with their doings the 
quiet chronicles of an " Old Woman's Outlook." 
We do not therefore propose only to deal with our 
birds as they exist at this moment, but to trace the history 
of at least the less common species in the writings of those 
who have gone before us, and to associate their names, 
when possible, with the men and women of mark who 
have appreciated their society. 
We fear that some of our readers may be disappointed 
at not finding a description of the birds' habits, song, or 
E 
