86 
NATURAL HISTORY 
LETTER XXXII. 
TO THE SAME. 
DEAR SIR, Seleorne, October 29, 1770. 
After an ineffeftual fearch in Linnaus, Briffbn, &c. I begia 
to fufpeft that I difcern my brother's hirundo hyberna in Scopolts 
new difcovered hirundo rupefiris, p. 167. His defcription of 
*' Supra nmrina, fubius albida; reElrices macula ovali alba in latere 
*^ interno ; pedes nud'i, nigr'i ; rojlrum nigrum; remiges abfcuriores quam 
plimia dor/ales ; reprices remiglbus concolores ; caudd emarginatd, nec 
fordpatd ;" agrees very well with the bird in queftion : but 
when he comes to advance that it is Jlatura hiriindinis urbica" 
and that *' dejinitio kirundinis riparia hhince'i hide quoque convenit" he 
in fome meafure invalidates all he has faid ; at leaft he (hews at once 
that he compares them to thefe fpecies merely from memory : 
for I have compared the birds themfelves, and find they differ 
widely in every circumftance of fliape, fize, and colour. However, 
as you will have a fpecimen, I fhall be glad to hear what your 
judgment is in the matter. 
Whether my brother is forellalled in his non-defcript or not, 
he will have the credit of firft difcovering that they fpend their 
winters under the warm and fheltery fhores of Gibraltar and 
Barbary. 
Seopoli's charafters of his ordines and genera are clean, jufl, 
and exprefTive, and much in the fpirit of Linnaeus. Thefe few 
xemarks are the refult of my firft perufal of Seopoli's Annus Primus. 
The 
