x INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
At what time he began his observations is not known, but 
we may presume that they were commenced soon after his 
settlement at Selborne, the habit growing and growing, till it 
became the almost all-absorbing passion that it eventually did. 
The Letters of which his book consists were probably not 
originally intended for publication, and it is possibly to that 
cause that their success must be attributed. They have nothing 
of the nature of a treatise about them, but are full of the 
interest and pleasure which the writer takes in his observations 
and investigations: and therein lies their charm. 
The “ Natural History of Selborne”’ was published in 1789, 
the year of the French Revolution. It has gone through many 
editions ; a German one having been published as early as 
1792, a year before White’s death, which occurred in June, 
1793. Since that time the pleasant Hampshire village, which 
has become through his labors a synonym for a love of Nature, 
and the devoted study of her ways, has been as it were a 
shrine to which students of natural history, and especially 
admirers of Gilbert White’s work, have made loving pilgrimage. 
As regards the “ Natural History” itself, it must be borne 
in mind that our knowledge, in respect to the subjects wherein 
White was specially interested, has greatly advanced since his 
time ; so that in many points his views will be found erroneous, 
and in some cases his observations not sustained by subsequent 
research. In some instances these errors have been pointed 
out in the present edition ; but a sparing use has been made 
of notes, as they tend to distract the attention ; and besides it 
has been thought that, if the book serve its purpose by creating 
an interest in natural history, and by inculcating habits of 
observation, the necessary exactness of information as regards 
contemporary science will easily be obtained from other and 
more modern works. 
One instance in which White inclined to an erroneous view 
is that regarding the habits of swallows, As will be seen from 
