A Discourse on the Emigration of British Birds; or, this question at last solv'd: whence come the stork and the turtle, the crane and the swallow, when they know and observe the appointed time of their coming? Containing a curious particular, and circumstantial account of the respective retreats of all those birds of passage, which visit our island at the commencement of spring, and depart at the approach of winter; as the cuckow, turtle, stork, crane, quail, goat-sucker, the swallow tribe, nightingale, black-cap, wheat-ear, stone-chat, whin-chat, willow wren, white-throat, etotoli, fly catcher, &c. &c. Also, a copious, entertaining, and satisfactory relation of winter birds of passage: among which are the woodcock, snipe, fieldfare, red-wi

(LEGG, JOHN)

Publication Date: 1814

About this Item

London, printed for John Brumby, 1814. 8vo. III-XV,(1),64 pp. Modern brown cloth with dark brown label lettered in gilt. Foxed and browned throughout. Short vertical tear at lower margin of title page. With Gunnar Brusewitz's bookplate. Apparently lacking half-title. Wood An introduction to the literature of vertebrate zoology p. 430. First published in two editions in 1780, with a third edition in 1795. In contrast to most copies of this edition, the date in the present copy has not been erased. All earlier issues ascribe this text merely to "a naturalist", and although the present title gives George Edwards (1695-1773) as the author, it was revealed by A. C. Smith in 1894 that it is the work of John Legg (1755-1802). Smith writes that "What makes this treatise so remarkable is that it enunciates the true story of the migration of birds, so far in advance of general belief on that point: for at the period when it was written, and indeed well into the present century, it, was commonly supposed that hybernation in hollow trees, holes of rocks and caves, and even submergence at the bottom of ponds, lakes, and rivers, during the winter, was the best explanation of the disappearance of the swallows, warblers, and other soft-billed species in the autumn. [.] but our anonymous author, more keenly alive to the truth, rejected these old-world fables, and boldly announced that migration beyond seas was the true solution of the problem [.]." Brusewitz took a keen interest in the question of hibernation or migration of birds, as can be seen by a laid-in note and a copy of a letter in his hand. Seller Inventory # 47017B

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Discourse on the Emigration of British ...

Publication Date: 1814

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good