I should now proceed to such birds as continue to sing after midsummer, but as they are rather numerous, they would exceed the bounds of this paper; besides, as this is now the season for remarking on that subject, I am willing to repeat my observations on some birds concerning the continuation of whose song I seem at present to have some doubt. LETTER II. TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. SELBORNE, Nov. 2, 1769. HEN I did myself the honour to write to you about the end of last June on the subject of natural history, I sent you a list of the summer birds of passage which I have observed in this neighbourhood; and also a list of the winter birds of passage; I mentioned besides those soft-billed birds that stay with us the winter through in the south of England, and those that are remarkable for singing in the night. According to my proposal, I shall now proceed to such birds (singing birds strictly so called) as continue in full song till after midsummer; and shall range them somewhat 1 Some others might have been added, as the reed warbler, the grasshopper warbler, and the cuckoo. The sky-lark often sings very late, and the note of the corncrake may frequently be heard in May between 11 and 12 P. M. The "less reed sparrow," Passer arundaceus minor, above mentioned is the sedge warbler, Salicaria phragmitis (Bechstein).-ED. in the order in which they first begin to open as the spring 1 Gilbert White, it would seem, did not clearly distinguish the trec pipit, Anthus arboreus, which he calls the titlark, from the meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis, which is the titlark of other authors. The former is a migratory bird, arriving in April and leaving in September, and a good songster (see p. 117); the latter is found here throughout the year, though many go southward for the winter, and is a very poor songster. The former, as its name implies, lives chiefly in trees; the latter lives almost entirely on the ground, and in its habits and mode of feeding closely resembles the wagtail.-ED. Birds that cease to be in full song, and are usually silent at or before Midsummer :: Birds that sing for a short time, and very early in the Birds that have somewhat of a note or song, and yet are hardly to be called singing birds: tatus: : Ius note as minute as its per son; frequents the tops of high oaks and firs: the smallest British bird. Haunts great woods: two harsh sharp notes. 25. Small willow-Regulus non cris-Sings in March, and on to Sep wren, 26. Largest ditto, 27. Grasshopper lark, 28. Martin, 29. Bullfinch, 30. Bunting, tember. Cantat voce stridulâ locustæ ; All the breeding time; from From the end of January to All singing birds, and those that have any pretensions to song, not only in Britain, but perhaps the world through, come under the Linnæan Ordo of Passeres. The above-mentioned birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnæan genera :— Birds that sing as they fly are but few: 1 Birds that breed most early in these parts: 1 All birds that continue in full song till after Midsummer appear to me to breed more than once. Most kinds of birds seem to me to be wild and shy somewhat in proportion to their bulk; I mean in this island, where they are much pursued and annoyed; but in Ascen 1 To this list might have been added the robin, since it not unfrequently nests in January during mild winters.--ED. sion Island, and many other desolate places, mariners have found fowls so unacquainted with a human figure, that they would stand still to be taken; as is the case with boobies, &c. As an example of what is advanced, I remark that the golden-crested wren (the smallest British bird) will stand unconcerned till you come within three or four yards of it, while the bustard (Otis), the largest British land fowl, does not care to admit a person within so many furlongs.1 1 "Besides the barren 'brecks' of Norfolk and Suffolk, the great bustard, on good authority, appears in former times to have been extremely common on all the open parts of this island which were suited to its habits-the elevated moors of Haddingtonshire and Berwickshire, the desolate wolds of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Newmarket and Royston Heaths on the borders of Cambridgeshire, together with the downs of Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Southampton, and Sussex |