262 Coimtry Rambles. 



to trace the harmonies between the lower forms of life 

 and our own, seeing that man is not so much contained 

 in nature, as the continent of it, the summary, compend, 

 and epitome of all that is outside of him, and of all that 

 has gone before. It is not necessary, as some seem to 

 suppose, that we should shoot every unlucky bird we may 

 desire to be acquainted with. The museums are now so 

 amply stocked with good stuffed specimens, that there is 

 no need for further slaughter, unless under peculiar cir- 

 cumstances; all that we may want to know about form 

 and colour is procurable in-doors, and the best part of 

 the subject is always that which is followed up with our 

 eyes and ears in the fields. There is no harm in killing 

 birds, any more than in the insecticide of the entomolo- 

 gist, so long as necessary for the genuine purposes of 

 science; but to make a point of bringing down every 

 poor wayfarer that may come within range is wanton 

 cruelty. Instead of glorying in the destruction of a rare 

 bird, or of a brilliant butterfly that an instant before had 

 been waving its painted fans like an animated flower, it 

 should rather be matter of regret that it has now been 

 prevented from any longer brightening the earth and air, 

 and that the beauty of the world has been thus much 

 defaced. If a bird in the hand be worth two in the 

 bush, a bird in the woods, rejoicing in the freedom of 

 nature, is worth twenty in a museum or a glass case. 



Assuredly, too, it is a great mistake to shoot down 

 birds because of the damage they do in orchards and 

 corn-fields. Caterpillars, grubs, and flies of various kinds 



