500 
BIRD-LIFE. 
we have to undergo, is the ruthless chastisement which 
we receive at the hands of dogmatists. When we meet 
with opinions, such as those expressed by the Jesuit 
Father Burgstaller, of Feldkirch, in regard to the great 
naturalist,—I may say, the greatest ever known,—Alex¬ 
ander von Humboldt, classing him amongst brutes, we 
can but smile at opinions so deficient in intelligence. It 
is otherwise, however, when we find our whole body at 
feud with the would-be religionists of our time, who, 
instead of supporting the naturalist in his earnest search 
after knowledge and truth, misconstrue the motive by 
which he is actuated,—the enlightenment of the ignorant, 
—and seek to persecute him under the mask of extra 
devotion to the Great God above. No small expenditure 
of strength and courage is required to stand firm amid 
the assaults to which we are subjected at the hands of 
the formalist. To believe without knowing is easy 
enough, and comfortable, too; but to acquire sufficient 
knowledge to enable one to believe is very difficult. The 
thirst for knowledge ever remains unslaked; and on this 
account our motto is one more of promise than of 
attestation. Every concession, however, be it ever so 
small, is, in our eyes, a reward for our endeavours: our 
strength lies in the conquest of difficulties. By this 
means we have been able to advance science, which 
alone, for us, is sufficient; each victory over ignorance is 
a fresh and happy acquisition in our eyes. The naturalist 
is, perhaps, the only being who can estimate their true 
value. 
We strive for the highest, and are satisfied with the 
smallest, result; we risk life, and are satisfied with 
hearing the song of a bird, the reward which we have 
earned! “ The Wood Thrush (Turdns mustelinus ),” says 
