144 LORD LILFORD 



especially about Lilford, often lay white eggs, 

 but they have no right to be round ; you will 

 find as you go on that birds' eggs vary so in- 

 finitely that it is impossible to correctly identify 

 them in many instances without seeing the 

 parent bird at or about the nest. I received the 

 three Black Terns from Irby in very good condi- 

 tion. He did not tell me of the cook's desire 

 to dish them up. I can imagine his feelings on 

 the subject. It is very warm and trying here in 

 London ; if I were a Cambridge undergraduate 

 in robust health, I should be spending most of 

 my spare time in, on, or about the banks of that 



classic stream. 



1 Your very affectionate Uncle, 



' Lilford.' 



To the same. 



' London : May 27, 1886. 



4 1 am very glad to see that you are taking 

 seriously to ornithology. If you take to collect- 

 ing birds, I hope that you will not attach undue 

 value to specimens because they are killed in 

 the British Islands ; this is a most fatal mania, 

 and tends to the destruction of many interesting 



