UNNATURAL HISTORY 153 



at the hands of the poets, who are quite content to 

 repeat worn-out fictions and to set forth absurd inven- 

 tions. Few of them have any true sympathy with 

 Nature, hence their works are collections of unnatural 

 history. Nevertheless, they claim to be the " ministers 

 and high priests of Nature." 



British poets do not know, even, which are th^ 

 commonest birds in the United Kingdom. If one 

 trusted to them for one's knowledge of ornithology, one 

 would think that every bush in England contained at 

 least half a dozen linnets. As a matter of fact, the 

 linnet is a rare bird. Probably, not one poet in ten has 

 ever seen one except through the bars of a cage. 



Pale blue is a beautiful colour. Cambridge is, there- 

 fore, the favourite university with the ladies. In the 

 same way, the word " linnet " is very pleasing to the 

 ears of the poet, hence his partiality to the bird. 



