THE CHEWINK 41 



those which specialists often receive from intelli- 

 gent persons who have seen or heard something 

 in their line very curious or entirely new, and 

 who set the man of science agog by a description 

 of the supposed novelty, — a description that 

 generally fits the facts of the case about as well 

 as your coat fits the chair-back. Strange and cu- 

 rious things in the air, and in the water, and in 

 the earth beneath, are seen every day except by 

 those who are looking for them, namely, the 

 naturalists. When Wilson or Audubon gets his 

 eye on the unknown bird, the illusion vanishes, 

 and your phenomenon turns out to be one of the 

 commonplaces of the fields or woods. 



