112 Hetrosjpeciwe Criticism* 



some insects. Surely these facts warrant us in placing this bird among the 

 scansors. The public papers informed us last summer of some one near 

 Worthing having been fortunate enough to preserve a cuckoo through the 

 winter; if this notice should meet the eye of the possessor of the bird, 

 a communication of any facts concerning it through this Magazine will be 

 greatly esteemed.* 



The Reviewer mistakes in supposing that I might be led away by any 

 authority whatever, independently of facts. I incline to think, that 5cfew/?;?c 

 naturalists, those I mean who think more of terms than of facts^ will be 

 rather disposed to find fault with me for an opposite line of conduct, 

 for placing terms in the back, and facts in the foreground ; of setting too 

 little value upon systems of any kind : but while I frankly admit, that I 

 think our system-builders have pushed, in many instances, their generalis- 

 ation too far, it behoved me, nevertheless, as a faithful natural historian, 

 to lay before the reader Ornithology in science, and in fact as it is, 

 rather than what I could wish it to be. As to the introduction of the 

 terms cuculid, scansor^ and a few others, everyone will, I hope, perceive 

 that this has been done to show how the scientific terms may be anglicised 

 and used ; and sure I am, that, if they cannot be anglicised, the introduction 

 of them, and the multiplication of new terms in a learned language, how 

 much soever they may please the pedant, must very materially obstruct the 

 progress of science. Learned terms may, and perhaps, always will please a 

 few ; but to the generality of persons their introduction will be disapproved, 

 and their acquisition will be felt and deemed a wearisome pursuit. Things 

 and facts, not words, are now, and, in the acquisition of all knowledge and 

 science, ought ever to have been, the order of the day. 



The Reviewer wonders, seeing I am acquainted with Wilsor^s American 

 Ornithology, that I am disposed to echo the opinion that birds of song are 

 scarce in the Western World. I am not aware that I have, in any part of 

 my work, stated such an opinion. I have said, " It is, perhaps, true that 

 the birds of warm climates do not equal those of the temperate ones in the 

 sweetness and richness of their notes ;" and I have also said, that " From 

 the abundance of many of the Picae tribe, such as Parrots, and some others 

 of harsh note, it is probable that their sounds in the tropical woods often 

 overpower and confound the more soft and sweet modulations of the war- 

 bler tribes ; and hence the opinion has obtained credit, that the tropical 

 regions are deficient in birds of song." But how this can be interpreted 

 into the opinion given, to me, I really cannot divine : when, moreover, I 

 reflect that Wilson must have been most conversant with the birds of the 

 temperate climates of the United States, how what I have said can be 

 applied to the birds which he has described does, indeed, surprise me. 



To write a book that should please every body, would not only be hope- 

 less, but impossible j that various opinions should be entertained concern- 



* I have just been informed by a gentleman of my acquaintance, that some 

 years since he knew of a cuckoo having been kept in a cage, after being 

 hatched in this country, till the beginning of February in the next year ; 

 it was kept, of course, in a warm room, and fed chiefly on raw flesh j but, 

 by omitting, one frosty night, to keep the room warm, it died. 



The following is the notice alluded to above : — 



A person named Moore, residing at Goring near Worthing, has in his 

 possession a cuckoo which was taken from the nest last year, and has been 

 kept in a healthy state in a cage since that period. During the present 

 season, ** it has poured forth its well-known call, and is a rare, and perhaps 

 solitary instance of a cuckoo surviving in this country after the usual 

 period at which these birds migrate, which is seldom later than August." 

 — Sussex Advertiser. J^forning Herald, June 12. 1828. 



