SELBORNIA N A , &c. 
29 
ii. p. 1432) that ‘ the derivation is the A. S. /;<zwa=skin, clothing, covering ’ 
seems to be wholly unsupported' by evidence.” (Yarrell’s Hist. Brit. Birds, ii. 43). 
G. S. R. 
Note of the Cuckoo. — Mrs. Linley Blathwayt records the following 
interesting observations made by her at Batheaston : — Before the return of spring, 
I should like to call attention to the note of the Cuckoo, which is commonly said 
to be a major or a minor third, Beethoven giving it as the former in his Pastoral 
Symphony. I have frequently heard it a most decided major second, and some- 
times a perfect fourth. 
Last May for a few days, I wrote down what I heard, taking the pitch from the 
Philharmonic tuning fork. On the evening of the 13th it was a major third, F to 
D flat. On the following morning, when the birds seemed to be answering each 
other all round, the major thirds w r ere, E to C, and F sharp to D ; the minor, E 
to C sharp, F to D and G to E. Major second F to E flat. On the 16th I also 
heard a second, E to D, and on the 19th a fourth F sharp to C sharp. 
The Milliner’s Scheme of Creation. — We have received the follow- 
ing ingenious speculations on this subject : — Having seen the hint in your 
magazine suggesting a sketch of what might possibly be a milliner’s view of 
creation, I venture to send you the following which I think would be a plausible 
theory to account for the deeds of an Anti-Selbornian milliner : — 
“ Latterly we have heard much from scientific men about a certain theory by 
which they think they account for many natural phenomena : it is usually known 
as the doctrine of the ‘ Survival of the Fittest.’ We milliners know a great deal 
about nature, more perhaps than scientific men generally think. Do w r e not every 
season have fresh consignments of birds’ skins sent to us from abroad ? — do we 
not know exactly which wears best, what colours last longest, and howq for 
instance, to patch up a sea-gull with a few cock’s feathers, so that a far superior 
bird for trimming, than any which can be found in nature, is produced ? Our 
knowledge and experience ought surely to entitle us to an opinion upon these 
matters. 
“ Now the theory which these scientific men hold, does not tally with facts, 
and must therefore be dismissed as untenable. The principle which does hold 
true throughout the glorious realm of nature, is no other than this — ‘ The De- 
struction of the Fittest.’ What can be a more beautiful theory than this ? Every 
creature— bird, beast or butterfly — is meant for destruction, just in so far as it is 
beautiful and fitting for the adornment of ladies’ dress. 
“ What is the use of hundreds of birds flitting about aimlessly in some distant 
forest, or rearing their young on some lonely island, far from the reach of men ? 
Surely such things were never intended to be. Of course such a fate may have 
been destined for some ill-formed or sadly plumaged birds, but never for the 
gorgeous humming-bird who flames out so royally from among the velvet trimming, 
or for the bird of paradise whose exquisite plumes can never shew to as great 
advantage as when drooping from a gracefully shaped hat. Even the robin red- 
breast has lately been found to have some claim to destruction, and the great law 
of nature is therefore taking effect, as is shewn by the frequent appearance of one 
or even two of these little songsters nestling daintily in a lady’s bonnet — a now 
very' familiar natural (?) phenomenon. 
“ One word more, and I think I shall have made my point clear. Darwin’s de- 
finition of the term ‘ Fittest ’ is somewhat long and complicated. Roughly speaking, 
he uses it as meaning those animals or plants whose organisms are best calculated 
to help them in the struggle for existence. Here I must ask the reader to note the 
difference between Darwin’s phraseology and mine. ‘ The Fittest,’ as I use it, 
means of course — (and this meaning is surely more natural than the scientific one), 
such animals and birds, more especially the latter, which ‘ fit ’ best with the hats, 
bonnets, and, in fact the whole toilette, in fashion at any given time. ‘ Fitness ’ 
is also shewn in the facility with which a bird may be sewn on to any material — 
by the way in w'hich it resists the wet — by its general wearing qualities, and by 
many other smaller details which will readily occur to one who has daily experi- 
ence of such things, and who . . . &c ” 
