turberville] 
BKITISH ORNITHOLOGY 
593 
reckoned as one of the finest in the kingdom, at least, as 
regards the birds. His “ printed tract ” Ornithologia 
Britannica , which was privately published when he was 
twenty-eight, and his wide circle of correspondents, which 
included Linnaeus, bear witness to his abilities as a naturalist. 
He became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries when only 
twenty-one years of age, and in 1771 was elected F.R.S., 
but he does not appear to have contributed more than a 
single paper to the Philosophical Transactions (1783). He 
died on October 11, 1790, at his seat at Wyclifie and was 
buried in the chancel of the parish church. On his death 
his estates passed to his half-brother, William Constable, 
who survived him but six months. It was while Wy cliff e 
was in the possession of Mr. Constable that Bewick accepted 
an invitation from that gentleman and spent two months 
at Wycliffe making drawings from the specimens of birds in 
the collection. To Wm. Constable, Edward Sheldon succeeded 
in the possession of Wycliffe, and by him the museum was 
sold to Mr. Allan of Grange, near Darlington, from whose son 
it was purchased by the Newcastle Society in 1822, thus 
forming the basis of the Newcastle Museum. 
1771. Ornithologia Britannica : | sen | Avium omnium Britannicarum 
tarn Terrestrium, | quam Aquaticarum | Catalogus, | Sermone 
Latino, Anglico & Gallieo redditus : | Cui Subjicitur Appendix, | 
Aves Alienigenas, | In Angliam Raro Advenientes, Complectens. 
| In tenui labor : at tenuis non gloria — Yirg. | London : I 
Printed for the Author by J. Dixwell, in St. Martin’s Lane. | 
MDCCLXXI. 
Collation — 1 vol. folio, pp. 2 un. +pp. 4. Figure of Water 
Ouzel on p. 1. 
A catalogue of birds giving their Latin, English, and French 
names, with a few short notes. 
Idem. Reprinted by the Willoughby Society. Edited by 
Alfred Newton. 1 vol. 8vo. London : 1880. 
Turberville (George), 1540 (?)-1610 (?) 
Turberville, or Turbervile as it is sometimes spelt, is more 
widely known as a poet than otherwise, yet his work under- 
noted is one of the most prized of falconry books. He was a 
2 Q 
