Tue BriTIsH BUTTERFLIES. 145 
mentioned Mr Lennon’s very interesting capture. He (Mr 
Service) still maintained that it was captured at Dalscairth, and 
he thought there could be no doubt of the bona fides of Mr 
Lennon. Continuing, Mr Service referred to the fact that Mr 
Lennon was a very careful collector, and to the fact that he 
never had any Continental butterflies, so that it must have been 
a bona fide capture. 
THe Stupy or Birp Lire. By Mr Cuas. H. Marriott, M.A. 
Its DIFFICULTIES. 
The first difficulty presents itself in the shape of time. I 
am supposing such an ornithologist as I am speaking of to have 
not only some knowledge of the birds more generally distributed 
throughout the country, but a desire to investigate further. And 
I am also supposing that he, like the great majority of people, 
has to find time as best he can outside of the time he is 
occupied with the various matters of life. With one whose 
time is all his own I am not concerned. If such a one cannot 
become at least a fairly competent authority, it is simply because 
he has no wish for more than the mere dilettante’s knowledge ; 
and that knowledge, of course, in ornithology as in any other 
science, only survives in its brilliant plumage till it meets with 
the eagle of solid knowledge, when it is apt to fly out of the 
way as quickly as possible—if it can. 
In the first place, then, time must be practically no object. 
To say that half-an-hour or an hour in such-and-such a copse 
or lane in pursuit of the less common birds is all he can spare 
is in nine cases out of ten equivalent to saying he has no time 
to spare at all. And in nine cases out of ten it would be better 
to spend the time in doing something else. He must have 
practically unlimited time if he wishes to investigate the habits 
and history of any bird. (And by unlimited time, I mean 
unlimited only on the special occasions on which he can afford 
to indulge in some special ornithological pursuit.) If he has 
seen the bird, or thinks he has, hour after hour may pass away 
without his being able to get near enough to it to observe it, and 
in the end he may find that he is practically no further advanced. 
This means that he must return again and again with practically 
the same amount of unlimited time, and must continue till he 
