84 THE FEATHERED TRIBES OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 



Luffnaguilla, Kippure, Cadeen, and others of the Wicklow ** roclcs" 

 besides those of Mactrijlicuddy and Keis-corrain, might furnish retreats 

 for the Falco chrysaetos itself, probahly as congenial as Strathspey and 

 Badenoch, and " the high cliff' called Wallace's Craig, on the north 

 side of Lochlee." (P. 118, vol. i.) But our author seems bent upon 

 monopolizing the bird for " the Highlands of Scotland ;" in England he 

 considers it matter of doubt whether it ever is found, and, as for the 

 golden eagle of Ireland, he sets it down, hypothetically , for the " erne/* 

 or " bog-eagle" of Scotland !* 



Much genuine philosophy runs through the book, nor does this come 

 the less recommended because accompanied with a vein of shrewd 

 pleasantry, not always void of causticity. We are glad to find that the 

 author opposes the short-sighted folly of stigmatising animals with 

 cruelty for that which is an obedience to th6 instincts implanted in them 

 by Providence ; and we are, also, pleased with his pithy denunciation of 

 those mean and barbarous massacres, the pigeon-matches, and similar 

 inhuman " sports.'* The principle of sound humanity is alive in the 

 mind of the writer, and diff'uses an additional charm over pages still 

 further enriched by sentiments of unclouded, genuine, and exemplary 

 piety. One of Mr. Mudie's great objects is to put an end to the 

 gratuitous crusade against many innocent and useful birds, by enumer- 

 ating the benefits which they confer on mankind in fulfilment of the 

 wise ordinations of God. His account of the rook, " the cheerful, the 

 orderly, the industrious, the discreet, the beneficent rook'' (Vol. i. p. 155) 

 is an inimitable specimen of the zeal and ability with which he advances 

 the truth, and strives for its establishment. Many satisfactory details 

 place the fact beyond question, but we must content ourselves with the 

 following extracts from the introduction. (P. 4.) 



" Nor are the uses of the birds, not merely in wild nature, but in conjunction 

 viiih man as he cultivates the garden and the field, less worthy of being observed 

 and admired. We, in our ignorance, oftvn regard them as pests, and as such 

 destroy them in the most assiduous manner, deeming every feathered creature 

 ■which we deprive of life as so much certainly added to the produce of our farming ; 

 but we little know, while we are acting thus, that we are sacrificing the guardians 

 of our vegetable wealth, and giving protection and scope to the destroyers. The 

 ■whole of nature is so replenished with the germs of life, in a condition ready to be 

 developed the instant that the state of heat and moisture accords with their 

 developement, that a means for preventing their extraordinary increase, more 

 efficient both in itself and in its application than any thing of human contrivance, 

 is absolutely requisite, in order to preserve that relative balance which is es^^sential 

 to the preservation of the system, and which no part of the system is without." 



'* Every bud, every crevice in bark, very many roots, all the pools and slow 

 streams, and all animal and vegetable matters in a state of decay, are full of the 

 rudiments of small animals in some state or other, and those rudiments are 

 awakened so easily, and by causes so little open to common observation, that if 

 there were not some counteracting power, our gardens might, in the course of a 

 single season, be left without a blossom, our forests without a leaf, and our fields 

 without a blade of grass, a spike of corn, or an esculent root. If that once took 

 place, vegetation would be gone, save the poisonous fungi which might be nourished 

 by the remains of the destroyers." (5.) 



In the author's arrangement, we have one point to remark : to the 

 lively genus which he denominates ** seed-eating or graminivorous birds,'* 

 Mr. Mudie has, perhaps injudiciously, removed the lark, Alauda arvensis, 

 but we think that this very delightful melodist would be more accurately 

 classed with the " Omnivora," as he equally enjoys insects, seeds, meat, 



• *• The osprey, or sea eagle, has been occasionally seen in Shropshire ; one was 



