INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. xl 
the letters, he became more and more convinced that they pass 
the winter in a state of torpidity. Daines Barrington, the 
correspondent to whom the second series of letters were 
addressed, was still more positive in favor of that theory as 
against migration. Yet nothing is now more clearly established 
than the fact of the annual migration of the hirundines. 
Of White’s other correspondent, Pennant, it may be as well 
to say that he was the author of a number of works on natural 
history, chief among which was his #ritish Zodlogy, which 
_ gained him considerable reputation both in England and on 
the Continent. 
For the sake of concentration, some of White’s Observations 
relating to birds, reptiles, and insects, usually printed sepa- 
rately, under the general heading of “ Observations on Nature,” 
have been incorporated with the Letters. 
No more appropriate quotation can be found with which to 
close this brief sketch than the following graphic and stimu- 
lating selection from the writings of the late Frank Buckland, 
the eminent and genial English writer on natural history : — 
“I trust, moreover, that this book (White’s Selborne) may 
induce my fellow-countrymen to learn that in this beautiful 
world there are many other creatures besides themselves, all 
living and acting with the utmost independence of human aid 
or advice. ‘They do not consult mankind as to how, when or 
where they shall build their nest or make their holes, or how 
they shall get their daily rations; they do not ask us leave to 
come, nor do they ask leave to go. They know their own 
business, and obey what we, for want of a better word, call 
‘instinct,’ the mysteries of which remain as yet unsolved by 
human intelligence.” 
“I feel assured that the education of children, both in town 
and country, might greatly be forwarded if they were taught in 
the schools what and how to observe. Especially in the country 
should they be encouraged to make collections of common 
