27 [Vol. xxxiii. 



with a plate (vol. viii. p. 128, pi. 18). His most interesting 

 and important observations in Ornithology were on the three 

 ' Willow- Wrens,' and it is to him that we owe the first 

 clear distinction between the Willow-Wren, Chiffchaff, and 

 Wood-Wren (cf. Yarrell, ' British Birds/ 4th] Ed. vol. 1 , 

 p. 427). He also devoted considerable time and attention 

 to the habits of the Cuckoo and the Nightjar or "Pern-Owl 

 as he called it, and made observations on the protective re- 

 semblance of the young of the Stone-Curlew (Letter XVI. to 

 Pennant) : ' The young run immediately from the egg like 

 partridges, etc., and are withdrawn to some flinty field by the 

 dam, where they skulk among the stones, which are their 

 best security ; for their feathers are so exactly of the colour 

 of our grey spotted flints, that the most exact observer, 

 unless he catches the eye of the young bird, may be eluded.' 

 His conjectures as to the descent of the domestic Pigeon 

 f from the small blue Rock -Pigeon,' Columba livia, and not 

 from the Wood-Pigeon, C. palumbus, or Stock-Dove, C. cenas, 

 are especially worthy of mention. The careful reader of 

 the 'Natural History' will, however, best discover its 

 treasures for himself, and owing to the extremely defective 

 index of the work and of most subsequent editions he will 

 find close attention well repaid. 



