<P> The earliest record of falconry comes from the reign of Sargon II (722--705 BC) in Assyria . Falconry is thought to have made its entry to Europe only after AD 400, brought in from the east after invasions by the Huns and Alans . Starting from the eighth century, numerous Arabic works on the subject and general ornithology were written, as well as translations of the works of ancient writers from Greek and Syriac . In the 12th and 13th centuries, crusades and conquest had subjugated Islamic territories in southern Italy, central Spain, and the Levant under European rule, and for the first time translations into Latin of the great works of Arabic and Greek scholars were made with the help of Jewish and Muslim scholars, especially in Toledo, which had fallen into Christian hands in 1085 and whose libraries had escaped destruction . Michael Scotus from Scotland made a Latin translation of Aristotle's work on animals from Arabic here around 1215, which was disseminated widely and was the first time in a millennium that this foundational text on zoology became available to Europeans . Falconry was popular in the Norman court in Sicily, and a number of works on the subject were written in Palermo . Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194--1250) learned about an falconry during his youth in Sicily and later built up a menagerie and sponsored translations of Arabic texts, among which the popular Arabic work known as the Liber Moaminus by an unknown author which was translated into Latin by Theodore of Antioch from Syria in 1240 - 1241 as the De Scientia Venandi per Aves, and also Michael Scotus (who had removed to Palermo) translated Ibn Sīnā's Kitāb al - Ḥayawān of 1027 for the Emperor, a commentary and scientific update of Aristotle's work which was part of Ibn Sīnā's massive Kitāb al - Šifāʾ . Frederick II eventually wrote his own treatise on falconry, the De arte venandi cum avibus, in which he related his ornithological observations and the results of the hunts and experiments his court enjoyed performing . </P> <P> Several early German and French scholars compiled old works and conducted new research on birds . These included Guillaume Rondelet, who described his observations in the Mediterranean, and Pierre Belon, who described the fish and birds that he had seen in France and the Levant . Belon's Book of Birds (1555) is a folio volume with descriptions of some 200 species . His comparison of the skeleton of humans and birds is considered as a landmark in comparative anatomy . Volcher Coiter (1534--1576), a Dutch anatomist, made detailed studies of the internal structures of birds and produced a classification of birds, De Differentiis Avium (around 1572), that was based on structure and habits . Konrad Gesner wrote the Vogelbuch and Icones avium omnium around 1557 . Like Gesner, Ulisse Aldrovandi, an encyclopedic naturalist, began a 14 - volume natural history with three volumes on birds, entitled ornithologiae hoc est de avibus historiae libri XII, which was published from 1599 to 1603 . Aldrovandi showed great interest in plants and animals, and his work included 3000 drawings of fruits, flowers, plants, and animals, published in 363 volumes . His Ornithology alone covers 2000 pages and included such aspects as the chicken and poultry techniques . He used a number of traits including behaviour, particularly bathing and dusting, to classify bird groups . </P> <P> William Turner's Historia Avium (History of Birds), published at Cologne in 1544, was an early ornithological work from England . He noted the commonness of kites in English cities where they snatched food out of the hands of children . He included folk beliefs such as those of anglers . Anglers believed that the osprey emptied their fishponds and would kill them, mixing the flesh of the osprey into their fish bait . Turner's work reflected the violent times in which he lived, and stands in contrast to later works such as Gilbert White's The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne that were written in a tranquil era . </P> <P> In the 17th century, Francis Willughby (1635--1672) and John Ray (1627--1705) came up with the first major system of bird classification that was based on function and morphology rather than on form or behaviour . Willughby's Ornithologiae libri tres (1676) completed by John Ray is sometimes considered to mark the beginning of scientific ornithology . Ray also worked on Ornithologia, which was published posthumously in 1713 as Synopsis methodica avium et piscium . The earliest list of British birds, Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum, was written by Christopher Merrett in 1667, but authors such as John Ray considered it of little value . Ray did, however, value the expertise of the naturalist Sir Thomas Browne (1605--82), who not only answered his queries on ornithological identification and nomenclature, but also those of Willoughby and Merrett in letter correspondence . Browne himself in his lifetime kept an eagle, owl, cormorant, bittern, and ostrich, penned a tract on falconry, and introduced the words "incubation" and "oviparous" into the English language . </P>

English ornothologist who wrote a history of british birds