80 On the Introduction of 



one of my sisters in England, stating my desire to attempt the 

 introduction of nightingales, and soliciting her co-operation. 

 My sister readily consented, and went np to London for the 

 purpose of making the necessary inquiries, and arranging for the 

 shipment of some of the birds. In the course of her investiga- 

 tion she learned that a gentleman was then resident in London 

 who has distinguished himself by great attention to the subject 

 of ornithology. I will not mention his name. But if I did, 

 you would agree with me in looking upon him as a very high 

 authority. It occurred to my sister that it would be very well 

 worth while to ask the advice of so experienced a gentleman, 

 before proceeding further, and she therefore called upon him ; 

 but I regret to say that his opinion was so unfavorable to the 

 experiment that all further action was suspended till I could be 

 communicated with. The objections to the scheme were 

 grounded on the supposition — first, that so delicate a bird as 

 the nightingale could not be brought out safely to Australia ; 

 and secondly, that if it did arrive, and were turned loose here, 

 it would find nothing suitable for its subsistence. He therefore 

 pronounced the attempt little better than Quixotic. My sister 

 urged in favor of the experiment that seven English skylarks 

 had been set free near G-eelong ; and that, years after, they or 

 their descendants had been heard singing cheerfully. The gen- 

 tleman stated that he altogether doubted the fact ; that there 

 was an Australian lark which so nearly resembled the skylark 

 of England in its habits that no one but a naturalist could 

 distinguish it, and that this must have been the bird alluded to. 

 Now, with all deference to so high an authority, I am prepared 

 to prove this gentleman wrong in some of his inferences, and I 

 think that I am quite justified in distrusting him in others. I 

 am afraid that there is too often observable in science a sort of 

 pedantry which is lamentably liable to lend itself to obstruction ; 

 and I cannot help thinking that there is some trace of it here, 

 and that this experiment was thereby somewhat unnecessarily 

 disparaged. With reference to the_skylarks turned loose on the 

 Barrabool Hills, I had myself kept an eye on the issue of the 

 experiment with some interest, and three or four years after they 

 were set free I offered a reward of a few pounds to any one who 

 would bring me authentic intelligence of them or their offspring. 

 A very respectable Scotch mechanic called upon me some time 

 after, and told me that he had heard a skylark singing above a 

 large flat near the Jim Crow Ranges ; that two lads came up 

 while he was listening to it, and that they all distinctly recog- 

 nised it as an English skylark. I took the precaution of 



