THE BIRDS OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 
*47 
“To return to Cambridge,” continued Darwin, “how well I 
remember one little incident which illustrates the passion I felt 
in those days for any curious object, any new thing in the realm 
of nature. Hunting one day among the bark of an old tree for 
beetles I suddenly came upon a prize which was instantly cap¬ 
tured. A second specimen appearing before I could open my 
box I seized it also and was about to consign the pair to captivity 
when yet another specimen presentedjitself to my gaze. Slipping 
one of the captured specimens into my mouth that I might have 
a free hand I immediately became aware of the fact that the 
beetle was possessed of a means of self-protection. It instantly 
ejected a nauseous liquid which filled my mouth with the most 
repulsive taste and odour, so that I was obliged to spit my 
treasure out! ” 
Such was the enthusiasm of the future world-renowned natura¬ 
list. This trifling incident, which many another collector could 
easily watch from his own personal experience, excited such in¬ 
terest among my guests, that they begged the story-teller to 
recite other experiences. He soon glowed into a fresh enthu¬ 
siasm, and we were all entranced as he recounted in vivid, and 
yet modest language, such as the truly great ever employ, the 
incidents connected with his appointment to the Beagle, his voy¬ 
age as naturalist with Captain FitzRoy, and the valuable experi¬ 
ence he gained thereby. I drew his attention to the fact that 
the Beagle was recently used as a training ship by the Japanese, 
and was lying at Yokosuka, a naval station in the Bay of Yedo, 
not far from Yokahama. We then induced him to narrate to us 
how he came to settle at Down, and carry out the quiet plodding 
work of his life, amidst great physical weakness, till he came to 
be regarded as the prince of modern naturalists. His account of 
the work done among flowers, the pains he took to establish his 
theories respecting the fertilizing of plants, his investigations 
into the habits of the earthworm and the insectivorous plants, 
were of intensest interest, and we were all sorry when his story 
came to a close. There yet remained, however, a great deal to 
be done, and I shall next recount how Theophrastus set forth 
the account of the butterfly from the standpoint of the imagina¬ 
tive Greek. 
THE BIRDS OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 
By Albert H. Waters, b.a. 
(Continued from page 99 .) 
The tiny gold-crested wren (Regulus cristatus ) is commonest 
on the drier uplands east of Wilbraham, among the fir trees, 
where it builds its beautiful little round mossy nest in which it 
