5 1 6 Remarks on Wood's British Song Birds. 



" sparrows," I think they may with equal propriety have the 

 laugh at our author for calling the " yelping" house sparrow 

 a singing bird.* I cannot agree with Mr. N. Wood in con- 

 sidering the country folk so totally ignorant of ornithology 

 as to mistake a house sparrow for a hedge sparrow, or 

 hedge dunnock, as it is more appropriately entitled by the 

 author, though the former appellation is apt to mislead the 

 town resident. 



In a note at the foot of page 39., the name of an original 

 observer in natural history is introduced in a somewhat petu- 

 lant and unbecoming manner, which might have been avoided. 

 Should animosity unfortunately exist in the bosom of one 

 naturalist towards another, it were better that it should rankle 

 there, than be suffered to pollute the pages of a book which 

 professes to treat of those cheerful creatures, whose notes are 

 ever "full of love and joyance." But, not to detain your 

 readers with any speculations as to the amount of knowledge 

 and entertainment that is obtained, by the world in general, 

 from the perusal of original works on natural history, or of 

 compilations from the writings of various authors and ob- 

 servers, I will proceed to transcribe some of the notes that 

 were made on perusing Mr. N. Wood's book. But, as it 

 would occupy too much of that space in your useful Magazine, 

 which is usually filled with more important matter, to note 

 the tenth part of them, I will open the book at random f 

 (page 230.), and observe what is stated of the song of the 

 meadow pipit (^'nthus pratensis). " The song of the meadow 

 pipit," observes our author, " bears some resemblance to that 

 of the skylark, being rather monotonous. In power, however, 

 it is greatly inferior to that 4 bird of the heavenward song,' 

 being scarcely audible except when heard close; but the 

 strains are, in my opinion, somewhat superior in melody to 

 those of the skylark," &c. The skylark, as a songster, in 

 the opinion of Mr. N. Wood, has little merit, as will appear 

 by the observations on his musical powers, which will here- 

 after be transcribed from his biography of that bird. " The 

 meadow pipit," continues Mr. N. Wood, "usually pours 

 forth its melody whilst rising perpendicularly in the air, which 

 is performed with a singular quivering action of the wings. 

 It seldom mounts so high as to escape observation ; but, having 



* See British Song Birds, p. 202. 



f [If the author of the present critique had not opened Mr. Neville 

 Wood's book "at random" he would probably have seen the following 

 observation : — "If only song birds found their way into this little volume, 

 the house sparrow, with all its impertinence and wily tricks, had never 

 been admitted here." (p. 330.) — Ed.] 



