PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 215 



Newgate Calendar scarcely furnishes a parallel. 

 Even our most scientific journals print many of 

 these bloody annals. It is true, a reasonable num- 

 ber of specimens must be collected for scientific pur- 

 poses, but surely no adequate excuse can be given 

 for shooting hundreds of individuals of the same 

 species merely to have the honor of saying that an 

 astounding number of specimens were " taken." If 

 the cause of natural history cannot be promoted 

 without destroying the humane instincts of the natu- 

 ralist himself, the price is too great ; it were better 

 left unpaid. A bird in the bush is worth forty in 

 the hand, especially if the forty are dead ; worth 

 more, too, I venture to add, to the cause of science 

 itself. 



