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OBSERVATIONS 
ON THE 
NOTES OF BIRDS, 
AN INQUIRY 
Whether or not they are Instinctive. 
BY MR. JOHN BLACKWALL. 
(Read November 29th, 1822.) 
JT is much to be regretted, that the study 
of ornithology is too frequently confined 
solely to the perusal of the best authors on 
the subject, and to the examination and ar- 
rangement of preserved specimens, whose 
faded plumage and distorted forms convey 
very imperfect ideas of the elegance and 
symmetry that so eminently distinguish this 
beautiful and highly interesting part of the 
creation. To those whom business or in- 
clination leads to reside chiefly in large 
towns, such are almost the only means of 
information that offer themselves ; but who, 
that enjoys the opportunity of observing the 
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