2 British Birds, 



of hundreds and thousands of other men hesides me, 

 and I am sure too of hundreds and thousands of bo3's 

 and girls as well. I am as sure as if I could see into 

 the minds of the young nest-hunter generally, that 

 when he finds one day the wonderfully neat and 

 beautiful Chaffinch's or Goldfinch's or Crested Wren's 

 nest, and the next, lights upon some littering Jack- 

 daw's nest, or some inartistic, careless -seeming Jay's 

 or Rincr-dove's, that the wide, wonderful contrast and 

 difference sets him thinking — What is the reason 

 of this strange dissimilarity ? Is one of these birds 

 really less clever than the other ? Did God make one 

 of them a careless, disorderly, unthrifty bird, while 

 the other He made such a wonderfully neat and 

 dexterous and contriving one ? 



And I am equally sure that a little measure of 

 observation and thought will be enough to show the 

 young inquirer not only that the Great Maker of 

 birds and Giver of their instincts and understandings 

 and capacities has not left some of His creatures im- 

 perfect in some of their qualifications and endowments, 

 but that the very contrasts and unlikenesses which 

 first set him on questioning at all, all teach one great 

 lesson and illustrate one great truth, — namely this, 

 " O Lord, how manifold are Th}^ works ! " and to add 

 the inquiry suggested by what follows the words 

 quoted, — " Hast Thou not in wisdom made them all ? " 



Perhaps an Egg-book might be so written as to 

 help such thought and observation as is here sup- 

 posed, and now and then, besides, to suggest explana- 

 tions or lead to investigation or communicate a 

 knowledge of facts such as to illustrate and make 



