ANIMAL-LIFE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 235 
“When Mr. Hook, R.A., not so very long ago, with that 
wonderful power which he possesses of depicting coast scenery, 
took us to the very verge of a precipitous sea-cliff to witness the 
feat of a daring boy robbing a gull’s nest in which four eggs were 
seen to be lying, he unfortunately selected for his ‘‘ parent bird” 
flying to attack the boy a species of gull which happens never 
to breed in sea-cliffs at all, but makes its nest inland upon the 
ground. Such errors as these, in the eyes of a naturalist, sadly 
depreciate the value of a work otherwise so attractive. 
Again, how often do we see an illustration of the fact that 
some of the best landscape painters are but indifferent pourtrayers 
of animals. A stubble-field in autumn, or a lonely moorside, may 
be charmingly rendered, so far as the landscape is concerned, but 
when for effect the artist attempts to introduce a little life, by 
depicting, say, a flock of Rooks on the one, or a pair of Peewits 
on the other, the result is rarely successful, the birds being 
generally so badly drawn as to make it difficult to divine for what 
species they can be intended. ‘The reason of this shortecoming— 
that is to say, in the case of birds—seems to be that few artists 
appear to have studied attentively the anatomy of a bird’s wing 
and the arrangement of the feathers which clothe it. Nor do 
they seem to have noticed how very different is the shape of the 
wing in species which belong to different genera. We are aware 
that Sir Joshua Reynolds, in one of his discourses, has said ‘‘ Do 
not study Nature too closely ;” but there is a wide difference 
between studying closely and not studying at all, and in animal 
painting, at least, the success of a picture must almost of necessity 
depend upon the accuracy of its outlines. If these are faulty, 
the most careful attention to light and shade, or to colour, will 
hardly compensate. 
But to come to the present Exhibition. Compared with 
former years, there seem to be few animal pictures of real merit, 
if we except the works of Messrs. Ansdell, Cooper, and Davis, 
who are generally well represented. Of these we may speak in 
their turn. Mr. Ansdell, among several cattle-pictures, sends 
only one sporting subject this year (634), Grouse Shooting over 
a brace of dogs. So often has this favourite subject been painted 
that it is refreshing to mark in Mr. Ansdell’s picture an entirely 
new and original treatment of it. The dogs, nearly life-size, are 
in the fore ground, and the sportsman, coming over some rising 
