290 Observations on the 
free denizens of the fields and woods in their 
native haunts, would exchange their lively 
and unrestrained activity, their curious do- 
mestic economy, their mysterious migrations, 
and their wild but delightful melody, for the 
fixed glassy eye and the mute tongue of 
the inanimate forms that are crowded together 
in melancholy groups in the museum. Let 
me not, however, be misunderstood. I do 
not mean to insinuate, that those collections 
of birds that enrich the cabinets of the cu- 
rious are of small utility; on the contrary, 
Iam willing to allow that their importance 
is very considerable; but E would anxiously 
guard against an exclusive attention to the 
collecting and arranging of specimens, to the 
neglect of what is much more instructive and 
valuable: I mean the study of their habits, 
manners, economy, instincts, and notes. In 
these important particulars the history of 
birds is still very defective: the majority of 
authors, foreign as well as native, having 
limited themselves to the simple enumeration 
of specific characteristics and distinctions, 
and the occasional introduction of a few an- 
ecdotes, which from frequent repetition have, 
in general, lost much of the novelty they 
once possessed. We must except from this 
remark, however, the excellent works, in na- 
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