210 METHODS OF WOKK 



two other glass slips, immediately exclaiming ' That is 

 the same as the Hebrides specimen ! ' Can anything 

 be better ? You will observe that this investigation (if 

 so it may be called) was carried on with the utmost 

 fairness. All he knew was that 1 wanted, if possible, 

 to determine the " unknown quantity," i.e. the Hebrides 

 down. I was careful not to give the slightest indication 

 of what I should like the result to be, and yet you see 

 it has come out exactly as I should like it to be, and all 

 to the credit of Kinnear, Bahr and Co. May the angels 

 take charge of them and their shadow never grow less. 

 I am so glad on their account. 



You can't realize how this business has been afflicting 

 me, for I had made up my mind to omit Kinnear's eggs 

 from the " O.W." unless the down examination were 

 clearly in favour of their being Scaup, and I know what 

 a serious blow it would be to him if I did so. 



Gadow, though he has no doubt on the mattter, admits 

 that the differences between these downs are to a great 

 extent beyond description ; but curiously enough the 

 Scaup's is distinctly darker (almost black with a whitish 

 centre, as they all have) than Tufted Ducks' (which is 

 ashy-brown) or any of the others. Anas nyroca, which 

 we afterwards tried, comes very near it ; but of course 

 that is out of the question. 



In giving all these different downs to Gadow to try, 

 my object was, of course, not to mislead him, but to 

 train his eye to differences which at first sight are hardly 

 apparent, and no doubt it is only a trained eye that can 

 detect these almost minute differences. He was positive 

 about the Hebrides down being different to any of the 

 others, knowing nothing more about it than that I 

 wanted it determined if possible ; nor did he know when 

 I handed him the precious lock of Scaup's from the little 

 bit you sent me that I expected or thought it possible 

 that they should be the same. 



Afterwards we put them all under a strong power 

 (microscope), but that did not help us much. It chiefly 

 showed that the old downs become brittle and lose the 



