The letters of the eminent naturalist Gilbert White are full of precise, unaffected and delightful observations of the wildlife of his beloved village of Selborne, describing the habits, colours and songs of birds from lapwings to barn-owls, wrens to house-martins. Here too are exquisite writings on trees, fossils, bats and rainfall, filled with intellectual curiosity and joy in the natural world.

Author Biography

Gilbert White (1720-93) was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne, Hampshire. After studying at Oriel College, Oxford, White spent much of the next fifteen years travelling around England but always returned home. Birds of Selborne is taken from his famous work The Natural History of Selborne, a compilation of his correspondences with Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington, and reputedly the fourth most published book in the English language.