CHAP. xii. CLOSENESS OF OBSER VA TION. 241 



ment which they had occasioned, for they had thereby 

 rendered me the witness of a scene which I could 

 scarcely have believed, and which no length of time 

 will efface from my recollection." 



On another occasion, Edward exhibited the same 

 closeness, minuteness, and patience of observation, 

 with regard to the Turnstone (Strepsilas interpret), a 

 bird which is an inhabitant of the sea-shore, and has 

 a wide geographical range, though it has rarely been 

 seen on the shores of the Moray Firth. In Edward's 

 ornithological excursions, it was not so much his 

 object to kill birds as to observe their manners and 

 habits. He very often made his excursions without 

 a gun at all. In a letter to the author, he observes 

 " In looking over my printed articles, you will find 

 a great number of notices of the habits and workings 

 of various species. I spent so much time in observa- 

 tion, that I had little time to spare to write out the 

 results. And what I did write, did not seem to be 

 much appreciated. Perhaps this is not to be won- 

 dered at. It appears that the compilers of works on 

 Natural History in this country do not care for details 

 of the habits of the animals they treat of. They rather 

 glory in the abundance of technical descriptions they 

 can supply. These may seem scientific, but they are at 

 the same time very dry. In fact, Natural History is 

 rendered detestable to general readers. We want some 

 writers of the Audubon and Wilson class to render 

 Natural History accessible to the public at large." 



u 



