UNNATURAL HISTORY 153 



at the hands of the poets, who are quite content to 

 repeat worn-out fictions and to set forth absurd inven- 

 tions. Few of them have any true sympathy with 

 Nature, hence their works are collections of unnatural 

 history. Nevertheless, they claim to be the " ministers 

 and high priests of Nature." 



British poets do not know, even, which are the 

 commonest birds in the United Kingdom. If one 

 trusted to them for one's knowledge of ornithology, one 

 would think that every bush in England contained at 

 least half a dozen linnets. As a matter of fact, the 

 linnet is a rare bird. Probably, not one poet in ten has 

 ever seen one except through the bars of a cage. 



Pale blue is a beautiful colour. Cambridge is, there- 

 fore, the favourite university with the ladies. In the 

 same way, the word "linnet" is very pleasing to the 

 ears of the poet, hence his partiality to the bird. 



