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enclosed painting, 1 * than my poor description. A young Lady drew 
them for me, & they appear to me to be very exact copies, & 
charmingly executed. 
I had occasion to write to the Duke of Portland;* & i ventured 
to recommend the Nat. Hisst. of Selhorne to his Grace. 
I think there is no doubt, but the R S. will print your account 
of the Fern-Owl. If they do not, i (for one) shall be ashamed of 
F. R S. to my name. It has been matter of wonder to me, that 
(since my Indications of Spring were printed) many people have 
asked me, what is the Fern-Owl 1 ’Tis a strong proof of the shame- 
ful ignorance of a set of people that live great part of the year in 
the Country ! — As you have left off sporting I hope you will not 
think me too cynical, if i wonder that a rational creature can make 
the chief pleasure of his life to consist in causing, 3 & seeing 
harmless creatures in the agonies of death. The poulterer’s killing 
-boy & the Lamb-butcher, follow their trade, & perhaps with 
pity ; the Nobleman’s and gentleman’s, is clear pleasure : from 
causing pain & death. I am sorry to find by the Meeting 
advertised that you have scoundrels & rascals in Hampshire, as 
we have in Norfolk. Besides the real danger of these villains they 
confirm the bad opinion i am forced to have of human nature. I 
may say every man in the village is obliged to me ; yet 1 3 of them 
are of these Clubs. But they do me one service, viz. they mortify my 
vanity, as i thought i could have led them all. One man in 
particular, to whom & his family i had been very kind, i believo 
to hundreds of pounds ; & saved his father from hanging : & 
this is the grateful return ! 
But no more on this vile subject. I have just begun a new 
Wood of some acres, now i am near 85 years old ; which i attend 
1 This painting in water-colours has been kindly lent to me by Prof. Bell. 
It represents with much accuracy two of the primary quill -feathers, the fifth 
and seventh, I believe, from the left wing of a female or young male Certhia, 
or, as it is now more commonly called, Tichodroma muraria, leaving no 
doubt as to the correctness of the determination of the specimen by Marsham 
and White. — A. N. 
■ William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, Duke of Portland, born 1738, and 
twice First Lord of the Treasury, died 1809. — A. N. 
’ No doubt “coursing” was intended— A. N. 
