THE OSPEEY. 



155 



I 



who knew nothing' of natural history, was ap- 

 pointed chief of the zoological department." 

 (It seems that as little respect was paid in 

 England as in the United States now to ethical 

 or natural proprieties!) Swainson's "disap- 

 pointment" at this rebuff "was acute," but he 

 was (or tried to persuade himself that he was) 

 quite reconciled to it. aiid that he would live "to 

 rejoice it was so ordained by Him, who foresees 

 consequences we have no conception of." In 

 such a happy state of mind and resig-nation, 

 "although frustrated in this hf)pe of adding- to a 

 small independance," he "determined no longer 

 to wear out the rest of youth in longing for 

 domestic life" and his "gentle friend thought the 

 same." So thej' "were married in the autumn of 

 1825." Swainson was then 36 years old. He 

 had his half-pay as retired "assistant commis- 

 sary general," but he depended for support at 

 that time in large part on his father who allowed 

 him ;^200 (nearly $1,000) a year. This source 

 of income was lost the next year, however, 

 when his "venerable father expired." Then 

 "he began to think seriously for the future." 

 Finally, "it occurred to him that no profession 

 was more honourable than that of an author" 

 and that he "might justly turn to pecuniary ac- 

 coinit that knowledge to gain which |he] had 

 sacrificed so much". 



Through the intervention of friends, he form- 

 ed "a connection" with the great English pub- 

 lishing "house of Longman, Orme, Brown and 

 Co.," which was destined to last nearly fourteen 

 years. At first, Swainson was employed to 

 revise "the entomological portion of Loudon's 

 two Encyclopaedias of Agriculture and Gar- 

 dening." "An Encyclopaedia of Zoology was 

 next proposed, to match with those of Loudon's 

 for which [he] was to execute all the drawings 

 upon wood." On this work he "laboured inces- 

 santly for several years". 



Swainson had lived at the residence of his 

 father-in-law for some time after inarriage, 

 but in order that he mig^ht give the necessary 

 time to the work he had undertaken with as little 

 interruption as possible, he determined to take 

 a house of his own sufficiently near London to 

 be able to go there without too much expense of 

 time or money, and j'et far enough away to 

 avoid too much interruption by visitors who 

 would "drop in" and fritter away his time. 

 He finally selected a home in the suburbs of the 

 great city where he was to remain till 1840. 



Swainson settled at Tittenhanger Green, 

 within a mile of the little village of London 

 Colney, Herts, somewhere about 18 miles north- 

 ward from the heart of London and near St. 

 Albans. This was "a spot so retired as to be 

 completely out of the reach of morning visitors." 

 Here, says Swainson, "surrounded with im- 

 mense collections and a large librarj', I had all 

 the materials of study under my own roof; my 



facilities were great, and I improved them by 

 occasionally visiting the collections in London." 



He had secured a g-arden of fair size with a 

 number of fruit trees and berry bushes and an- 

 ticipated pleasui-e from their produce. But he 

 was destined to be disappointed, for the birds 

 were too numerous. The Tits and Bullfinches 

 were especially offensive.* There were three 

 species of Tits and they were so destructive that 

 Swainson was provoked to declare that against 

 them "a warfare of extermination should be 

 carried on, — specially in winter, when they are 

 easily seen in the naked hedges, and were 

 readily shot." They bite "off" the buds, particu- 

 larly of the gooseberry bushes, they often re- 

 duce the prospect of a crop to one fourth of what 

 it otherwise would have been. There are two of 

 as fine cherrj' trees in our garden as were ever 

 seen; but, from which the Bullfinches and Tom- 

 tits so effectually pick all the embryo buds, that 

 we have never had more than a handful of fruit 

 during any one of twelve years." (He is writing 

 in 1840).+ "We were obliged to relinquish the 

 growth of Indian corn, from the destructive pro- 

 pensities of these birds; they strip off the pro- 

 tecting leaves when the corn is just ripening-, 

 and will often pick out every grain." Other birds 

 were so numerous as to be troublesome. "Black- 

 birds, Thrushes and Robins are wholesale de- 

 predators on the small fruits, when they are ripe, 

 — particularly the latter, two or three of vv'hich 

 will strip a currant tree in as many days. Spar- 

 rows comparatively do little harm in gardens". 



The Tits manifested their familiarity in other 

 ways. "The Blue Titmouse (Panis C(rnth'us) 

 has for several years built its nest within the 

 crevice of an outside wall, caused b3' the giving 

 way and bulging out of the stucco." Another 

 family of the Blue Titmouse resorted to the 

 pump to nest. "The pump in our g-arden has 

 an outer framework of wood, the top being roof- 

 shaped, and lifting on and off, in order the more 

 readily to facilitate its repair. The spring of 

 the year 1832 being'- rather wet, the pump was 

 not used for some few weeks;" a pair of the Tit- 

 mouse took advantage of this and built a nest; 

 "the cylinder was completely closed up with 

 hay, moss and feathers," forming a nest in 

 which were five or six eggs. "In the adjacent 

 woods of Lord Calledon," he sees Jays "which 

 seldom alight on the ground," but whose "wild 

 and discordant cries echo through the coppices, 

 and evince that such wooded retreats are their 

 proper haunts."} 



A more acceptable tenant of the garden was a 

 family of Wrens. In 1836 writes Swainson-^, they 

 "erected this spring among the creepers trained 

 round our portico" a nest. "Its shape is irre- 

 gularlv oval and is so disproportionate to the 

 size ofthe bird, that its g-reatest leng-th measured 

 near twelve inches; externally it seemed like 

 a large bunch of withered leaves that had acci- 



*This testimony of Swainson in i elation to the injurious character of the Titmice is cited as timely, because the introduction 

 of the Great Titmouse or 'Kohlmeisc" of the Germans (Prt/-'/« major) has been strongly and frequently advocates lately. It 

 has been recommended for its supposed value as a destroyer of the Codling Moth (Cfirpocapsa iwmoiiflla) but it has failed nota- 

 bly in Great Britian "to exterminate the Codling Moth or even to hold this pest in check." (See Palmer in Year Book of the t . 

 S. Dep't of Agriculture, 1S98, p. 105). Those who know of the injuries inflicted by the introduction of the "English Sparrow- 

 will be careful about introducing any other bird, howover innocent it may appear to be. 



tSwainson, Habits and Instincts, p. 225. 



JSwainson, Birds, i, 130. 



§Swainson, Birds, i, 179. 



