208 PLEA FOR RARE BIRDS. [PART IL. 
it strikes me, be deservedly applied to many of 
our soi-disant naturalists, looking to their recep- 
tion and treatment of any bird whose misfortune 
it may be to be considered rare, and which may 
be compelled by stress of weather, or induced 
by other causes in misplaced confidence to visit 
our shores. The intelligence that such an un- 
happy immigrant has appeared is generally the 
signal for every one who pretends to the slightest 
knowledge of ornithology to turn out gun in 
hand bent on its destruction, the excitement 
of pursuit being probably only allayed by an an- 
nouncement in the county paper headed, “Rare 
Bird,” a too familiar type of which is as follows :— 
“On Saturday last that enthusiastic and accom- 
plished ornithologist, Mr Snooks, was so fortunate 
as to obtain two specimens, male and female, of 
that rare bird the Peregrinus jidens. They had 
been for some time observed in the neighbourhood, 
and many of our naturalists had been eagerly on 
the watch to secure them. We heartily congra- 
tulate our esteemed fellow-townsman on_ the 
attainment of this trophy, which will serve to add 
new lustre to his already celebrated name. From 
the fact that the female bird had a feather in her 
bill, when she was shot, there can be no doubt 
