6 BIRDS AND MAN 



straight to the case and saw a group of them 

 fastened to a furze-bush, the specimens twisted 

 by the staffer into a variety of attitudes — ancient, 

 dusty, dead little birds, painful to look at — a libel 

 on nature and an insult to a man's intelligence. 



It was a reUef to go from this case to the 

 others, which were not of the same degree of 

 badness, but all, like the furze wrens, were in 

 their natural surroundings — the pebbles, bit of 

 turf, painted leaves, and what not, and, finally, a 

 view of the wide world beyond, the green earth 

 and the blue sky, all painted on the little square 

 of deal or canvas which formed the back of the 

 glass case. 



Listening to the talk of other visitors who 

 were making the round of the room, I heard many 

 sincere expressions of admiration : they were 

 really pleased and thought it all very wonderful. 

 That is, in fact, the common feehng which most 

 persons express in such places, and, assuming 

 that it is sincere, the obvious explanation is that 

 they know no better. They have never properly 

 seen anything in nature, but have looked always 

 with mind and the inner vision preoccupied with 

 other and famihar things — indoor scenes and 



