Remarks on Wood's British Song Birds. 519 



author states that he had observed a nest of this bird, built 

 on a mossy bank in Sudbury Park ; and, although labourers 

 had constant occasion to pass quite close to the site of the 

 nest, the bird never quitted her charge on such occasions, 

 " This confidence," he continues, " was, however, but ill 

 requited ; for I one day found, much to my regret, that the 

 nest had disappeared ; and, on making enquiries, learned that 

 it had been robbed by one of the labourers' children, who 

 had certainly far better have been under the care of the village 

 pedagogue, even though it had been to learn the Greek 

 verb ! " Another nest of the woodlark was taken by the 

 author himself: there were five eggs in the nest ; " and I 

 regret," continues the tender-hearted naturalist, " that they 

 were so nearly ready to hatch as to render it utterly impossible 

 to blow them. It might have been imagined that the sym- 

 pathies of our author had been excited towards the bereaved 

 bird, by the circumstance of the eggs being so nearly ready 

 to be hatched ; but no, it was his own loss (for it appears that 

 he was anxious to procure some of these eggs for his museum) 

 that caused the deep regret. Another instance of cruelty 

 practised by the author is related in the following words : — 

 " In a large ivy-clad tree, in a garden behind a house belong- 

 ing to a friend of mine, was found the nest of a chaffinch. 

 I was in the habit of repairing to this little domicile every 

 day, but, after about a week, discontinued my visits. One day, 

 I went out shooting with my friend ; and, seeing a bird on a 

 tree, just within gun-shot, shot at it: it was a female chaf- 

 finch. Nothing was thought of this, and we walked on. A 

 few days afterwards, I was informed that the male chaffinch 

 had been found dead in the nest in the ivy tree. At first I 

 was considerably surprised at this occurrence ; but, recollect- 

 ing that the female had been shot within fifty yards of the 

 nest, it soon struck me that we must have killed the female 

 that was sitting in the ivy tree ; that her mate had waited on 

 the nest, and, finding that she never returned, pined to death. 

 The parent was perfectly stiff and dry, and had four young 

 birds under its outstretched wings." 



These few observations may be sufficient to show that, 

 whatever opinions the author may have given in his Orni- 

 thologist's Text-Book^ on the works of others, his own com- 

 positions are open to criticism. His book is, however, an 

 interesting book, and a useful one ; and I trust that, ere a 

 second edition appears, the author will feel it necessary to 

 give it a careful revision, in order that it may be rendered 

 more free from blemish, harsh taunts, and phrenological 

 references. 



