XI 
In spite of energetic prompting from many sides, Winge could 
not be persuaded to write in any other language than Danish. This 
peculiarity was connected partly with his love of his country and 
his conviction that it was his duty to contribute to oblige foreigners 
to read and respect our language, partly with his idea that only 
in his native language he could find sufficiently concise expres- 
sions for his thoughts, although he really had a talent for lang- 
uages, not only mastering German, English, and the Roman lang- 
uages, but also being able to read most of the Slav languages. 
This was the reason why his works were not sufficiently known, 
and did not have the influence or meet with the attention which 
they deserved. But the foreign zoologists, who have been able to 
work their way through his Danish text, have spoken with the 
greatest consideration, some even with admiration of Winge’s papers, 
and in the course of time he will most probably obtain, also in 
the great world, the appreciation due to him. The beginning has, 
besides, already been done, as Gerrit S. Mi 11 er jr. has translated 
Winge’s paper: “A Review of the Interrelationships of the Cetacea“ 
(Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections Vol. 72, Washington 1921). 
Of popular papers, besides his excellent book on the mammals 
of Denmark, illustrated by himself, in the series “Danmarks Fauna“, 
Winge has only written the section on mammals and birds in the 
work edited by Jul. Schiøtt: Den danske Stat (Danmarks Natur, 
1899, pp. 353—476, with numerous, for the greater part original 
pictures, drawn by Vilh. Fischer). After an introduction on the 
alterations in the fauna due to alterations in the nature of the 
country from its origin to the present days, Winge takes us into 
forest and meadow, bog, lake, beach, field, and moor and tells 
us of the birds we meet there, characterizing each separate 
species by a few striking characters, mentioning the most im- 
portant features of their habits, and initiating us in the language of 
the birds, their singing, calling, and exprcssions of anger, warning, 
and fear. The mammals are just as masterfully described; we con- 
stantly feel that the author is not an armchair theorist deriving 
his information from books, but having personal experiences and 
observations as a background to all his tales. We dåre say that 
this treatise is a jewel in the popular Danish literature concerning 
natural history, and it is anything but undeserved that an extract. 
