White is best known for "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789). This was a collection of his letters to Thomas Pennant, the leading British zoologist of the day, and the Hon. Daines Barrington, an English barrister and Fellow of the Royal Society. These letters contained White's discoveries on local birds, animals and plants. White believed in observing birds rather than collecting specimens. He was one of the first people to separate the similar-looking Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Wood Warbler by means of their song.