ILLUSTRATIONS TO HIS BRITISH BIRDS 95 
“Let us humble ourselves,” he writes in his 
Natural History of Deeside, “that in contemplating 
God’s works, we may ever see Him in the midst of 
them. If, in this temper, we traverse the valley of 
the Dee, and ascend the mountains from which the 
sources of that beautiful river gush forth, even if we 
discover little that may be of interest to science, we 
shall find much that may benefit our spiritual 
nature. And what would it profit a man, were he 
to solve half the mysteries of external nature, and 
yet be ignorant of the higher relations of his own 
being? Strange adventures, perils among rocks 
and floods, wonderful discoveries or magnificent 
theories, cannot be expected from a quiet journey to 
be made in one pair of shoes, with no other weapon 
than a hammer.” 
The illustrations in his History of British Birds , 
drawn by himself, and consisting principally of the 
heads and feet of birds, besides being scientifically 
accurate, are fine specimens of art, each being strik¬ 
ingly expressive of the character of the species of 
bird represented. As examples, nothing could be 
finer than the head of the golden eagle, or of the sea 
eagle, or of the raven, or the magpie. 
But these illustrations, good as they are, come 
iar short of his water-colour drawings of birds in 
the British Museum. They are beautiful works of 
art executed with great delicacy and care—in 
expression, in attitude, and in their natural sur¬ 
roundings, just as he had seen them with his own 
eyes. Yet they are little known outside the walls 
of the Natural History Department of the Museum. 
Modest as he habitually was, he did realise that 
