50 HOURS WITH NATURE, 



decided by the members of the Carpenter's lane Club that 

 the journal should remain in custody of G. C. B, to 

 whom the credit of rescuing it from an ignoble ending 

 belonged, until such time as the advisability or other- 

 wise of its publication should be resolved upon. That 

 time having now arrived, the self-elected trustees of the 

 anonymous journal have entrusted us with the publica- 

 tion of it, or of such extracts from it as may be deemed 

 expedient. As for the " Notes and Memoranda " them- 

 selves, they are evidently the production of a young 

 student, and are therefore interesting and agreeable, their 

 literary imperfections notwithstanding. They introduce us 

 into the thoughts and pursuits of a boy, and help us to 

 follow the bent and development of his mind from boy- 

 hood to youth. 



1. EAELY LESSONS IN ORNITHOLOGY. 



As a boy I was very fond of birds, and, truth to say, 

 spent more time in their pursuit than in the village 

 school. Numerous were my escapades, but the pleasure 

 of observing a real live bird and the hope of possessing a 

 new one ever impelled me on to new exertions. Various 

 contrivances were devised and adopted by me in trapping 

 the commoner kinds. I found crows most wary and 

 difficult to capture, and rock pigeons stupid and, there- 

 fore, easy to secure. Rock pigeons have become semi- 

 domesticated in most parts of India ; and as their pre- 

 sence about a homestead is considered lucky, they are 

 generally allowed unrestricted freedom in villages. This 



