UNNATURAL HISTORY 153 
at the hands of the poets, who are quite content to 
repeat worn-out fictions and to set forth absurd inven- 
tions. Few of them have any true sympathy with 
Nature, hence their works are collections of unnatural 
history. Nevertheless, they claim to be the “ ministers 
and high priests of Nature.” 
British poets do not know, even, which are the 
commonest birds in the United Kingdom. If one 
trusted to them for one’s knowledge of ornithology, one 
would think that every bush in England contained at 
least half a dozen linnets. As a matter of fact, the 
linnet is a rare bird. Probably, not one poet in ten has 
ever seen one except through the bars of a cage. 
Pale blue is a beautiful colour. Cambridge is, there- 
fore, the favourite university with the ladies. In the 
same way, the word “linnet” is very pleasing to the 
ears of the poet, hence his partiality to the bird. 
