568 Habits of the American Flying Squirrel. 



finch and warbler families, if treated with common "care, are 

 only sufferers as long as their migratory impulse lasts, which 

 is about a fortnight in the spring, and the same period in 

 autumn. But it would be best of all, for persons residing in 

 the country, not to cage any birds whatever. Your corre- 

 spondent informs you that " it has been the custom of Mr. N. 

 Wood to rob many poor birds of their eggs;" andj farther 

 observes, " it is a high offence for a child to rob a bird of 

 its eggs ; but, when a naturalist does the same thing, the 

 offence is overlooked." To say that a person has been in the 

 custom of robbing birds of their eggs, seems to imply that he 

 is a confirmed birdnester ; a charge to which I can by no 

 means plead guilty. In robbing the few nests which I have 

 robbed, I have done it with a view of making myself more 

 intimately acquainted with the operations of nature; and the 

 nests selected for my experiments are always those which, 

 from their situation, are most likely to become the prey of the 

 schoolboy ; and thus, in nine cases out often, my experiments 

 have been destroyed. Viewing the matter in this philosophic 

 light, it is a high offence* for a child to rob a bird's nest; 

 and the same deed may not only be overlooked, but encou- 

 raged, in the naturalist. In the anecdote of the chaffinch, 

 quoted at p. 519., of course I did not foresee what would be 

 the fate of the unfortunate male; and therefore this should not 

 have been cited as an instance of cruelty. Perhaps, however, 

 the cruelty lies in my having so far taxed the organ of bene- 

 volence of my readers, as to have related the anecdote at all. 

 C. J. appears to suppose, from the manner in which I have 

 spoken of the works of others in the Ornithologist's Text-booh, 

 that I imagined myself capable of writing a book wholly free 

 from blemishes. But that this is far from the case, is proved 

 by the following passage, from the preface to the British Song 

 Birds : — " Of course it (the book) contains numerous errors, 

 which I shall gladly acknowledge and correct, when pointed 

 out to me." I will now take leave of C. J., thanking him cor- 

 dially for his strictures, and assuring him that they will be 

 attended to. He may, however, rest satisfied that the second 

 edition of my book will not be " rendered more free from 

 phrenological references." Depend upon it, C. J. has either 

 not looked into the science of phrenology at all, or he 

 has viewed it with a prejudiced mind ; and the time will 

 assuredly come, when an anti-phrenologist will be looked upon 

 as a rare and strange being. 



Campsall Hall, near Doncaster, Oct. 7. 1836. 



* Every one must, however, be aware that the child means no offence. 

 The other day I asked a boy if he was in the habit of robbing birds' nests, 



