136 Alexander Goodman More. [isei 



satisfied of the evidence. Ah ! the amount of gentle in- 

 sinuation, almost of 'blarney,' required to avoid offence!" 

 A few weeks later : " Now I begin to appreciate the kind 

 of experience you have had. Oology must indeed be the 

 school in which to learn caution." 



(April nth.} What I wish to do with the Shore-Lark, Redwing, 

 Firecrest, and similar cases is to keep them in a list apart under the 

 title of "species requiring confirmation," or " other birds reported to 

 nest, but whose claims are not fully established." Thus to keep them 

 in a sort of quarantine. 



(April 2oth.} Has it ever occurred to you what a series of duels 

 we shall have to fight with the champions of the " excluded species" ? 

 (I am all for quarantining.) But it is just from this I anticipate the 

 greatest good, because matters will be thoroughly discussed and sifted. 



This, however, was looking far ahead. Long before 

 matters could reach the duelling stage there were no fewer 

 than 118 county lists to be "thoroughly discussed and 

 sifted " with the 97 correspondents who had been good 

 enough to supply them. 



Not that all these were subjects for searching cross- 

 examination ; for the trained ornithologists of England 

 and Scotland, almost to a man, gave their best aid to ad- 

 vance the scheme. Thanks to Mr. Newton's interest, the 

 leading " Ibisites " were among the foremost to contribute ; 

 and lists from the shires of Northumberland, Durham, 

 Northampton, Norfolk, Suffolk, Derby, Warwick, Sussex, 

 Surrey, Perth, and Argyle, were furnished respectively by 

 the Rev. H. B. Tristram, Mr. John Hancock, Lord Lilford, 

 Mr. H. Stevenson, Mr. Newton, Mr. Osbert Salvin, Mr. 

 R.F. Tomes, Mr. A. E. Knox, Mr. F. D. Godman, Colonel 

 Drummond Hay, and Captain Powlett Orde. With these 

 appear other names not less well known to the ornitho- 

 logists' world. The Rev. J. C. Atkinson (of "British Birds' 

 Eggs and Nests") sent a list checked for East Yorkshire. 

 Sir William Jardine sent one for Dumfries. Mr. J. E. 

 Harting contributed for Middlesex. Thomas Edward, the 

 celebrated ornithologist and shoemaker, sent lists for 

 Aberdeen and Banff; and the veteran Charles Waterton 

 supplied one for the neighbourhood of Walton Hall. A list 



