114 THE ORNITHOLOGICAL GUIDE. 



various animals as observed by the author and his 

 correspondents. The author is evidently unac- 

 quainted with Phrenology, or he would not have 

 betrayed his ignorance on several points which that 

 science satisfactorily clears up. In vol. III. p. 74, 

 et seq., is a remarkable instance of this. Alluding 

 to the instinct of migration the author says : — " All 

 these [animals] and many others, possess an instinct 

 so wonderful, that we are incapable either of ex- 

 plaining or accounting for it." This and many other 

 passages betray an ignorance which is not very 

 creditable in a cultivated gentleman of the nine- 

 teenth century. There are also some Ornithological 

 errors, of which we shall subjoin a specimen: — 

 " The Cuckoo probably lays more than one egg, 

 as I believe there is no known instance of any 

 species laying only one. Nature is too provident 

 of the different species to run any risk of their being 

 exterminated, which might be the case if only one 

 egg was deposited." There are however many known 

 instances of species which lay only one egg, and 

 among British birds, we may specify the Solan Gan- 

 net, {Sulci hasana,) the Common Puffin, (Puffinus 

 fratercula,) the Common Rotch, (Mergulus mela- 

 nolucus,) the Auk, CAlca,) the Petrel, (Thalassi- 

 droma,) the Guillimot, (UriaJ &c, and so far from 

 there being any " risk of their being exterminated," 

 are found in countless numbers along the coast. 

 This is a striking instance of the dangerousness of 

 theorising, and that nature laughs at " man's wis- 



