John Legg (ornithologist)


John Legg was an amateur ornithologist and early researcher into migration. He has been identified by A C Smith as the true author of A discourse on the emigration of British Birds, a 1780 work which is perhaps the first to accurately and with some detail outline the modern theory of migration. Smith tells us that there is little known about his life but provides some details. He was born around 1765 and never married. He lived on his estate near Market Lavington on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire and wrote. In addition to his more scientific work he also wrote articles for the Lady's Magazine.
In a lengthy footnote to one piece in Lady's Magazine, he announced the forthcoming publication of a two-volume Natural History of Birds, based on his original research. The work was never published, and the manuscript is lost.

Selected publications