LETTERS to DAINES BARRINGTON
Letter I
To The Honourable Daines Barrington
Selborne, June 30, 1769.
Dear Sir,
When I was in town last month I partly engaged that I would
sometime do myself the honour to write to you on the subject of
natural history: and I am the more ready to fulfil my promise,
because I see you are a gentleman of great candour, and one that
will make allowances; especially where the writer professes to be
an out-door naturalist, one that takes his observations from the
subject itself, and not from the writings of others.
The following is a List of the Summer Birds of Passage which I
have discovered in this neighbourhood, ranged somewhat in the
order in which they appear.
1. Wry-neck,
Raii nomina: Jynx, sive torquilla:
Usually appears about:
The middle of March: harsh note.
2. Smallest willow-wren,
Regulus non cristatus:
March 23: chirps till September.
3. Swallow,
Hirundo domestica:
April 13.
4. Martin,
Hirundo rustica:
Ditto.
5. Sand-martin,
Hirundo riparia:
Ditto.
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