L O V E ’ M I I S E N E .

LE CT U R E S

GRE E K A N D E N GLI SH B I RDS .

L D . O H N R U S K I N L . J , ,

H N R A N H N Y FELL W OF O O ARY ST UDE N T OF C HRI ST CH URCH , OXFO RD ; D O ORAR O

CO RPUS CH RI ST I COLLE GE, OXFORD .

VOLUME I .

GEORGE ALLEN ,

RP I N GTON KE N T . SU N N YSI DE , O ,

1 88 1 .

P R E FA C E

T O TH E FI R T M S VOLU E .

RAN TW D m zwa 188 1 . B OO , 9 7 ,

ua te ast five m o . Q r r p , rning

— chaffin che s H E birds chirping feebly, mostly

w I ans ering each other, the rest discomposed ,

fancy, by the June snow the lake neither smooth

nor rippled , but like a surface of perfectly bright

glass, ill cast ; the lines of wave few and irregular,

like flaws in the planes of a fine crystal .

I see this book was begun eight years ago ; — then intended to contain only four Oxford lectures : but

‘ ’ the said lectures also intended to contain the cream

of forty volumes of scientific ornithology. Which

n intentions, all and sundry, havi g gone, Carlyle

- would have said , to water, and more piously minded

Th sum m ts of the Old M an of Wetherlam e , , an d elvellyn were i H ,

ll te on the m o e t s was tt a Whi , rning wh n hi wri en . A E vi P REF C .

I persons , to fire, am obliged now to cast my

’ at all materials into another form and here, events , is a bundle of what is readiest under m y hand . The nature and name of which I must try to make a little more intelligible than my books

have lately been , either in text or title .

‘ ’ ‘ ’ Meinie is the old English word for Many, in

‘ ’ as the sense of a many persons attending one,

w n bridesmaids , he in sixes or tens or dozens

courtiers , footmen , and the like . It passes gradually

‘ ’ into Menial , and unites the senses of Multitude

and Servitude . \ e In the passages quoted from , or r ferred to in ,

’ Chaucer s translation of the Romance of the Rose,

who at the end of the first lecture, any reader cares

si n ifican ces for a clue to the farther g of the title, may find one to lead him safely through richer labyrinths of thought than mine : and ladder

-if enough also, there be either any heavenly, or

his — pure earthly, Love, in own breast, to guide

’ him to a pretty bird s nest ; both in the Romances

of the Rose and of Juliet, and in the Sermons of

St . Francis and St . Bernard . A vfi PREF CE .

‘ ’ fo r hI The term Lecture is retained, thoug lecture

I no more, still write habitually in a manner suited

for oral delivery, and imagine myself speaking to my

u I f. p pils, if ever am happily thinking in mysel But it will be also seen that by the help of this very

I familiarity of style, am endeavouring, in these and

my other writings on Natural History, to compel in the student a clearness of thought and precision of

language which have not hitherto been in any wise

the virtues, or skills, of scientific persons . Thought

e less readers, who imagin that my own style (such

as it is , the one thing which the British public concedes to me as a real power) has been formed

without pains, may smile at the confidence with

I which speak of altering accepted , and even long

I established , nomenclature . But the use which

n ow have of language has taken me forty years to

l attain ; and those forty years spent, most y, in walking through the wilderness of this world ’s vain

words, seeking how they might be pruned into some

I I better strength . And think it likely that at last

may put in my pruning - hook with effect ; for indeed a time must come when English fathers and mothers vfii PREFACE .

e will wish their children to l arn English again , and

to speak it for all scholarly purposes ; and , if they

use i a k a i , a , nste d , Gree or L t n to use them only th t

" ‘ they may be understood by Greeks or Latins ; and not that they may mystify the illiterate many of

own a so e their l nd . Dead languages, call d , may at

f - least be le t at rest, if not honoured and must not

u be torn in m tilation out of their tumuli , that the skins and bones of them may help to hold our living

but nonsense together while languages called living,

which live only to slack themselves into slang, or

on e bloat themselves into bombast, must day have

n ew m an d gra mars written for their license, new laws

for their insolence .

e Observe, however, that the r cast methods of clas

‘ ’ s ification i a i adopted n this book, nd n Proserpina , must be carefully distinguished from their recastings

I of nomenclature . am perfectly sure that it is

wiser to use plain short words than obscure long

ones ; but not in the x least sure that I am doing

the best that can be done for my pupils, in classing

’ eek is n ow a at o s a ua e om ess a to Gr living n i n l ng g , fr M in D elos

an d Latin still lives for the w ell -trained churchm en an d gentlem en of

Italy. PREFACE .

l w . swallows ith owls, or milkworts with vio ets The

a is as cl ssification always given tentative ; and , at it s : m as utmost, elementary but the no enclature,

in all probability conclusive .

For the rest , the success and the service of all depend on the more or less thorough accomplish

ment of plans long since laid , and which would have been good for little if their coping could at once have been conj ectured or foretold in their

has o foundations . It been thr ughout my trust, that

“ on if Death should write these, What this man

” was began to build , he not able to finish, God

aid may also write on them , not in anger, but in ,

A . stronger than he, cometh

CON TEN TS OF VOL. I .

PREFACE

3 I LECTURE .

THE ROBI N

I LECTURE I .

THE SWALLOW

I I LECTURE I .

TH E DABCHI CKS

APPENDIX

TH E ROBIN .

I . MONG the more splendid p ictures in the

o f o u Exhibition the Old Masters, this year, y cannot but remem ber the Vandyke portraits o f the two u o f o u o sons of the D ke Lennox . I think y cann t but o u f u remember it , because it w ld be di fic lt to find ,

m w o f V even a ong the orks andyke, a more striking representation o f the yo u th o f o u r English noblesse n o r o n e in which the p ainter had more exerted him

or u c u self, with better s ccess, in rendering the de oro s

u o f p ride and nat ral grace honourable aristocracy .

e Vandyke is, however, inferior to Titian and V las

u ff o f air q ez , in that his e ort to show this noblesse and persons may always be detected also the arist o ’ cracy of Vandyke s day were already so far fearfu l o f their own position as to feel anxiety that it should ’ L vE 6 o s MEINIE .

ff o f be immediately recognized . And the e ect the ’ c o f painter s cons ious deference, and the equally

o f conscious pride the boys, as they stood to be

t o e o f p ainted, has been somewhat shorten the p ow r

the one, and to abase the dignity of the other. And ’ o f o f u thus, in the midst my admiration the yo ths

‘ u u u ualit o f bea tif l faces, and nat ral q y majesty, set o ff n o u u t i o f by all sple d rs of dress and co r es es art,

I cou ld n o t forbear questioning with myself what the

u o f o f true val e was, in the scales creation, these fair hu man beings who s et s o high a value on them selves ;

— and , as if the only answer, the words kept rep eat

“ m o f m o u ing the selves in my ear, Ye are re val e ” than many sparrows .

2 O'T OUQOL — s . Passeres, p , the thing that open their

n ot o wings, and are therwise noticeable ; small birds

o f o f of the land and wood ; the food the serpent,

o f o f o wn man, or the stronger creatures their kind ,

n u that eve these, tho gh among the simplest and

O o f o f bscurest beings, have yet price in the eyes

o n e o f their Maker, and that the death of them

but cannot take place by His permission, has long

u u been the s bj ect of declamation in our p lpits, and

u of the gro nd much sentiment in n u rsery education .

Bu t the declamation is so aimless, and the senti

ment so hollow. that, practically, the chief interest o f the leisure of m ankind has been found in the 1 T . . HE ROBIN 7 destruction of the creatures which they professed to believe even the Most High would not see perish

' an d without pity , in recent days, it is fast becoming

the only definition of aristocracy, that the principal

u b siness o f its life is the killing o f sparrows .

o o r S parr ws, or pigeons, partridges, what does it

“ matter ? Centum mille p erd rices plumbo con

t o o o o f that is , indeed , ften the sum the

e o f o u lif an English l rd ; much q estionable now, if i n deed o f u more val e than that o f many sparrows .

3 , Is it not a strange fact, that, interested in nothing

u h fo r u i n so m c the last two h ndred years, as his

m o f horses, he yet left it to the far ers Scotland to relieve draught horses from the bearing- rein ; 1 is it n o t o n e u o f eq ally strange that, master the forests o f o f its England for a thousand years, and libraries fo r u o f three hundred, he left the nat ral history birds ’ ’ ? t o be written by a card - printer s lad o f Newcastle

fo r we Written , and not written, indeed have no

u nat ral history of birds written yet . It cannot be written b u t by a scholar and a gentleman ; and no English gentleman in recent times has ever thought

o r flavo uro us . o f birds except as flying targets, dishes

The only piece o f natu ral history worth the name in

o f the English language, that I know , is in the few

m R ar us t a h on Cou t Zachdar Sa t o e s t . The epi p n , in r r ‘ ” 6 m a n d t e M ast s . . A h s. A s a h e 1 Sir rt u r H elp ni l ir r , p 7 ’ E 8 Lov s MEINIE .

n lines o f Milton o the Creation . The only examp le

o f a prop er manner o f co ntribution to natu ral histo ry ’ Y o u is in White s Letters from Selborne . know I

have always spoken o f Bewick as pre - eminently a

u o r o u o f u v lgar boorish person, th gh splendid hono r

a n d geniu s ; his vu lgarity shows in nothing so m u ch

f o as in the poverty o the details he has c llected ,

h d fo r with the best intentions, and the s rew est sense,

o o i i n o t English ornith l gy. His mag nation is culti

t e d r va u him t o o o . eno gh to enable cho se, arrange

m f r 4. Nor can m u ch ore be said o the observations

o f u modern science . It is v lgar in a far worse way,

by its arrogance and materialism . In general , the

scientific natu ral history o f a bird co nsists o f fou r

—fi rst m o f articles, , the na e and estate the gentleman

whose gamekeep er shot the last that was seen in

o r o f o u u England ; secondly, two three stories d btf l

d o n u of origin , printe in every book the s bj ect birds

u o f th e for the last fifty years ; thirdly, an acco nt

m u m u feathers, from the co b to the r p , with en mera

tion of the colou rs which are never more to be seen o n E ; the living bird by nglish eyes and, lastly, a

discu ssion o f the reasons why none o f the twelve

names which former naturalists have given t o the

o f u u s e wh bird are any f rther , and y the present

t o author has given it a thirteenth , which is be u t o o f niversally, and the end time, accepted . 1 . . THE ROBIN 9

5 . You may fancy this is caricature ; but the abyss

o f confu sion prod u ced by m odern science in nomen

clat u re u o f o u , and the tter void the abyss when y

u o n e u u pl nge into it after any sef l fact, surp ass all

u m o f caricat re . I have in y hand thirteen plates

o f o r thirteen species eagles ; eagles all, hawks all ,

o r falc o ns all— whichever nam e y o u cho ose fo r the

great race o f the hoo k - headed bird s o f prey ’ s o m e so like that yo u can t tell the o n e from the

a t o m o u other, the distance at which I sh w the to y ,

o u e o r r all abs l tely alike in their eagl falcon cha acter ,

o n e fo r having, every , the falx its beak, and every o n e fo r o u u u , flesh its p rey. Do y s ppose the nhappy

t o t o o r student is be allowed call them all eagles , all

be l n falcons, to g with, as would be the first condition of m a wise nomenclature, establishing rese blance by

m m o specific na e, before arking variati n by individual

m ? u o u u o f na e No such l ck . I hold y p the plates

o n e o n e o u the thirteen birds by , and read y their nam es o ff the back

u The first an Aq ila .

o H aliaet u s . The sec nd, a

d u The thir , a Milv s .

u The fo rth, a Pandion .

an The fifth, Astur.

The sixth, a Falco .

The seventh, a Pernis . ’ LovE s MEINIE .

The C u eighth , a irc s .

u o The ninth, a B te .

u . The tenth , an Archib teo

The eleventh, an Accipiter.

E r t hro u s The twelfth , an y p .

in n n l T u cu us . And the thirteenth, a

’ There s a n i ce little lesson to entertain a parish

o o his u o scho lb y with, beginning nat ral hist ry of birds

6 n ot m o f . There are so any varieties of robin as ‘ but hawk, the scientific classifiers are not to be

o u m o f beaten . If they cann t find a n ber similar birds

ff t o to give di erent names , they will give two names

n e u o o wn t o the same o . Here are two pict res f your

o ut o f o r redbreast, the two best m de n works on orni

“ ” h l n ed rub e cu la t o o . o e gy In , it is call Motacilla ; ” Rub e cu l m a . in the other, fa iliaris

o n e o f t he m u 7 . It is indeed ost serio s , as one of

u o f u s the most abs rd , weaknesses, modern nat ralist to i magi ne that a ny presently invented nomencla ture can stand, even were it adopted by the consent f o f o u . nations, instead of the conceit individ als It will take fifty years’ digestion before the recently ascertained elements of natu ral science can permit the arrangement o f species in any permanently (even over a limited period) nameable order ; nor then , unless a great man is born to perceive and exhibit

’ 1 2 L vE M o s EINIE .

p ose, fastest vanishing from field and wood, the “ ” u b zzard . That name comes from the Latin buteo,

r but still retained by the o nithologists , in its original

m s o u . co form , valueles , to y But when you get it “ ” fo rtabl u u y corr pted into Provencal B sac, (whence

u u o ur o u grad ally the French b sard, and buzzard, ) y

“ ” bu sacad o r get from it the delightful compound ,

— m adorer of buzzards eaning, generally, a sporting ’ p erson ; and then yo u have Dante s Bertrand de

i Born, the first troubadour of war, bear ng witness to yo u ho w the love o f mere h u nting and falconry

' was already, in his day, degrading the military

s o a u classes, and, far from being a necessary dj nct o f o f the noble disp osition lover or soldier, was, even

t o Co te . ntempt, showing itself separa from both

cassad o r Le ric home, , ’ ’ M e n n eio n e l uza ad r , b c o .

’ o d au st o r Parlan de v lada, ,

" ’ ’ d arm as n i d a m r Ne amais o .

The rich man, the chaser,

m e d Tires to death ; and the adorer of buzzar s .

o f w They talk covey and ha k,

o f And never arms, nor of love .

“ Cassad o r o f , course, afterwards becomes chas

” n “ ” c u aust o r u Bu t o u s r, and va tour . after y have

ar l read this, and familiarized your c with the o d I TH E . ROBIN .

’ how f word, dif erently Milton s phrase will ring to

o u u y , Those who tho ght no better of the Living

o f u — how God than a b zzard idol , and literal it

u ff becomes, when we think of the act al di erence ’ n o f n m betwee a member Parliament in Milto s ti e,

— and the B us acad o r o f t o - day ; and all this fresh

u m o f u ness and val e in the reading, observe, co e yo r

keeping the word which great m e n have u sed fo r

o f u the bird , instead letting the anatomists bl nder

o ut a new one from their Latin dictionaries .

n o t m 9 . There are so many na eable varieties, I

o f o f o b ut just now said , robin as falc n ; this is

o u s mewhat inacc rately stated . Those thirteen birds

represented a very large p roportion o f the entire

u o f o f gro p the birds prey, which in my sevenfold

o n o u u classification I rec mme ded y to call niversally,

“ ” o n e o f hawks . The robin is only the far greater

m u ltitude of small birds which live almost in disc rim i

n at el o n m m y grain or insects, and which I reco ended “ ” yo u to call generally sparrows ; but o f the ro bin

t wo o E u — o n e itself, there are imp rtant ropean varieties

- - u . red breasted , and the other bl e breasted

I O Yo u o f o u o f . probably, some y , never heard

- the blue breast ; very few, certainly, have seen one

n o t , E . alive, and , if alive certainly wild in ngland " o f o u Here is a picture it, daintily done, and y

’ r u d s his ds of eat ta . M . Go l n B r Gr Br n , i i i i ’ 1 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

o n h can see the p retty blue shield its breast, per aps,

e . at this distanc Vain shield , if ever the fair little

thing is wretched enough to s et foot - o n English

gro u nd I find the last that was seen was shot

I 8 2 — m at Margate so long ago as 4 , and there see s to be no offi cial record of any visit before that;

E m bled on o n e N w since Mr. Thomas shot on e castle

1 16 But u s town moor in 8 . this rarity of visit to

is strange ; other birds have no such clear objection

i t o to be ng shot, and really seem come to England

fo r u - expressly the purp ose . And yet this bl e bird ’ (o n e can t say “bl u e robin —I think we shall have “ ” u co rn flowe r — to call him bl et , like the ) stays

in Sweden, where it sings so sweetly that it is

“ ” u u ca lled a h ndred tong es .

I I u m t he o o f . That, then , is the t ost which l rds

d an d o f us lan , masters science, do for in their watch ‘ u o ur u pon feathered s ppliants . One kills them ,

the other writes classifying epitaphs .

We have next to ask what the poets, painters, and monks have done. The poets — among whom I affectionately and

u reverently class the sweet singers of the n rsery, mo thers and nurses— have done m u ch ; very nearly ‘ for o f all that I care your thinking . The painters

o n e u and monks, the being so greatly nder the

u o f we infl ence the other, may for the p resent class T . I I . HE ROBIN 5 together ; and may almost sum their contributions to ornithology in saying that they have pl ucked

m e o f the wings from birds, to ak angels men, and f o . the claws from birds, to make devils men

If you were to take away from religiou s art these

o f — I u o n o two great helps its m st say, the wh le, very feeble— i m agination if you were to take from

u o n o u it, I say, the p ower Of p tting wings sh lders ,

o n - ho w d u and claws fingers and toes, won erf lly the sphere o f its angelic and diabolic characters wou ld be contracted " Red uced o nly t o the sou rces Of ex

o r , o u m fin d pression in face movements, y ight still in good early scu lptu re very s u fficient devils b ut the

u m best angels wo ld resolve the selves, I think, into

n o t o o u little more t han , and ften int so m ch as, the likenesses Of pretty women, with that grave and (I do n o t say it ironically) maj estic expression which

u t they p on, when, being very fond Of their hus

u bands and children, they serio sly think either the o n e r o the other have misbehaved themselves .

1 2 n ot u fo r . And it is a little disco raging me, and may well make y o u doubtful o f my right j udgment in this endeavou r to lead y o u into closer attention to the bird , with its wings and claws still

i — it is u s a in t s own possession disco raging, I y, to observe that the beginning of such more faithful and accurate Observation in former art, is exactly ’ 16 LovE s MEINIE .

m o f coeval with the co mencement its decline . The

u u u feverish and ngracef l natural history of Pa l, called , ” o f o d the birds, Pa lo egli Uccelli, produced , indeed ,

no harmfu l resu lt on the minds Of his contemp o

o m u u raries they watched in him , with only c nte pt o s

o f admiration , the fantasy zoological instinct which

o u i filled his h se with pa nted dogs, cats , and birds,

o because he was t o o poor t o fill it with real nes .

Their j udgm ent Of this m o rbidly natu ralistic art was

o u o f o c ncl sively expressed by the sentence Donatell ,

on e m r t o when going o ning into the Old Market ,

bu u u y fr it, and finding the animal painter ncover

o ing a picture, which had c st him months Of care,

u u u (c rio sly symbolic in its s bj ect, the infidelity Of

m o f vfi n e rin o f St . Tho as, the investigatory g g the “ u u o nat ral historian , ) Pa l , my friend , said Donatell ,

“ thou art u ncovering the pictu re j ust when thou

u u u sho ldst be sh tting it p .

I N e bu t o n . O co n 3 harm , therefor , I repeat, , the t rar m o u u m e n y, so e wholes me stim l s to the fancy Of

u like L ca and Donatello themselves, came Of the

o u m o gr tesq e and i pertinent zoology Of Uccell .

But the fat allest institu tor of prou d modern

anatomical and scientific art, and Of all that has

u the the poll ted the dignity, and darkened charity, Of

u o o e greater ages, was Antonio Pollaj lo of Fl renc .

Antonio (that is to say) the Poulterer— so named [ I . THE ROBIN . 7

u from the trade of his grandfather, and with j st so

’ m u ch Of his grandfather s trade left in his own dis

co m position , that being set by Lorenzo Ghiberti to plet e one of the ornamental festoons O f the gates o f

“ the Florentine Baptistery, there, (says Vasari) Antonio

u u s o prod ced a q ail , which may still be seen, and is

u s o but beautif l, nay, perfect , that it wants nothing ” the power Of flight .

1 m o d 4. Here, the rbi tendency was as attractive

u m u as it was s btle. Ghiberti hi self fell nder the

u o infl ence Of it ; all wed the borders Of his gates, with

u u d u their fl ttering birds and bossy fr its, to isp te the ’ spectators favour with the religi o u s subjects they

u enclosed ; and , from that day forward , min teness

u u u u and m sc larity were, with c rio s harmony Of evil , delighted in t o gether ; and the lancet and the micro

o in o f u o sc p e, the hands fools, were s pp sed to be complete substitutes fo r imagination in the sou ls Of wise men :so that even the best artists are grad u

Or u n ally compelled , beg iled , i to compliance with

o f the curiosity their day ; and Francia, in the city

“ o t o o d Of Bol gna, is held be a kind Of g , more

“ particularly (again I qu o te Vasari) after he had

o fo r u U painted a set of caparis ns the D ke Of rbino, o n o n which he depicted a great forest all fire, and whe nce there rushes forth an immense number o f

o f u every kind animal, with several h man figures .

2 ’ 1 8 L V O E s MEINIE .

‘ u re re sen t atio n was This terrific, yet truly bea tiful p , all the more highly esteemed for the time that

had been expended o n it in the plumage of the

ae birds, and other minuti in the delineation Of the

d ff of i erent animals, and in the diversity the branches

and leaves o f the variou s trees seen therein and thenceforward the catastrophe is direct, to the orni t hologi cal museu ms which Breughel painted fo r

o f gardens Eden, and to the still life and dead

o f u game D tch celebrities .

1 o - 5 . And yet I am going to invite y u to day to

m m exa ine, down to al ost microscopic detail, the

m o u aspect Of a s all bird, and to invite y to do this, as a most expedient and sure step in you r stu dy o f the greatest art.

' But the difference in o ur motive Of exam ination

u TO will entirely alter the res lt . paint birds that

m a o ho w u we y sh w min tely we can paint, is among

m u o f T O the most conte ptible occ pations art . paint

how u them, that we may show beautif l they are, is n ot o n e o f but u o n e o f indeed its highest, q ite its pleasantest and most u seful ; it is a skill within the

o f u reach every st dent Of average capacity, and

s o u u which, far as acq ired, will ass redly both make

their hearts kinder, and their lives happier .

W u h o u t o itho t furt er preamble, I will ask y look

’ t o - u u day, more caref lly than us al, at your well

’ LO VE S MEINIE . essential point to know abou t it is the breadth and

Of — latitude the zone it properly inhabits, that is to w ; x , , say, in hich it builds its nest ne t its habit Of life an d o f extent and line southing in the winter ; and , f O . finally, its manner travelling

1 7 . Now, here is this entirely familiar bird , the

s u t robin . Q uite the first thing that trikes me abo ff it, looking at it as a p ainter, is the small e ect it seems to have had o n the minds Of the southern

nations . I trace nothing of it definitely, either in

u the art or literat re Of Greece or Italy. I find , ’ even, no definite name for it ; you don t know if ’ “ ” o r u o r Lesbia s passer had a red breast, a bl e, a

u brown . And yet Mr . Go ld says it is abundant in all ,

u o Of M e dit e r p arts of E r pe, in all the islands the

an d A n d m . ra ean , in Madeira and the Azores then

— u o f he says (now notice the p zzle this) , In many

‘ Of C m co n parts the ontinent it is a igrant, and ,

r r u s t a y to what Obtains with , is there treated as a

fo r u o vagrant, there is scarcely a co ntry acr ss the

” in h o water whic it is not sh t down and eaten . C In many parts Of the ontinent it is a migrant .

In what parts— how far— in what manner ?

1 8 . In none of the Old natural history books can

u bu I find any acco nt Of the robin as a traveller, t

o u fo r there is, for nce, some s fficient reason their r eticence. He has a curiou s fancy in his manner I THE . 2 1 . ROBIN

Of travelling. Of all birds, you would think he was

u likely to do it in the cheerf llest way, and he does e d it in the saddest . Do you chanc to have rea ,

was in the Life Of Charles Dickens, how fond he Of taking long walks in the night and alone ? The

C o f . robin , en voyage, is the harles Dickens birds

i a o i n He always travels in the n ght, and l ne ; rests,

r t o the day, whe ever day chances find him ; sings ’ a little, and pretends he hasn t been anywhere.

- o f He goes as far, in the winter, as the north west

in o m u Africa ; and Lombardy, arrives fr the so th

I n bu t n o t a n o n early March ; does st y lo g, going into the Alps, where he prefers wooded and wild

t O m S . dis ricts . , at least, says my Lombard infor ant

I do n o t find him named in the list o f C retan ‘ u birds ; b t even if Often seen, his dim red breast was

m u o n little likely to make ch impression the Greeks,

w u who kne the flamingo, and had made it, nder the

r o u name o f Phoenix o Ph enicopter s, the centre Of their f d myths O scarlet bir s . They broadly embraced the general aspect Of the smaller and m o re Obscu re

ovflo u species, under the term f e, which, as I nder

u s e o f m stand their it , exactly i plies the indescribable

u silky brown , the groundwork Of all other colo r in so many small birds, which is indistinct among green fi e leaves, and absolutely identi es its lf with dead ones , o r with mossy stems . ’ 2 2 LOVE S MEINIE .

1 9 . I think I show it you more accurately in the ’ robin s back than I could in any other bird ; its mode

Of transition into more brilliant colour is, in him ,

u elementarily simple ; and altho gh there is nothing, o r u o rather beca se there is n thing, in his plumage,

Of interest like that of tropical birds, or even of our o wn - i d fo r y o u game birds, I think t will be esirable to learn first from the breast of the robin what a

n we feather is . Once knowi g that, thoroughly, can fu rther learn from the swallow what a wing is ; from the chough what a beak is ; and from the falcon what a claw is .

O f I must take care, however, in neither these last

“ u o r e two partic lars, to do injustice to u littl English

to e friend here ; and before we come his f athers ,

u o u m st ask y to look at his bill and his feet .

20 n o t u . I do think it is distinctly eno gh felt by u s O f n o t u that the beak a bird is only its mo th,

Fo r but its hand , or rather its two hands . , as its

u arms and hands are t rned into wings, all it has

to depend upon, in economical and p ractical life,

is its beak . The beak, therefore, is at once its ’ - its sword , its carpenter s tool box, and dressing case ; partly also it s musical instru m e nt ; all this besides its fu nction of seizing and preparing the o u f od, in which f nctions alone it has to be a trap ,

- carving knife, and teeth, all in one. 1 T 2 . HE ROBIN . 3

’ 2 1 o f . It is this need the beak s being a mecha mical tool which chiefly regulates the form Of a ’ ’ - o o t . bird s face, as pposed to a four f o ed animal s If

o o f o n e the questi n food were the only , we might wonder why there were n o t more fo u r- foo ted crea t u res living o n seeds than t here are ; o r why those that d o — fi eld - m ice and the like— have not beaks ’ B ut instead Of teeth . the fact is that a bird s beak is by n o means a perfect eating o r fo o d

u o u seizing instrument . A sq irrel is far more dexter s with a n ut than a cockato o and a dog manages

B ut a bone inco mparably better than an eagle. the beak has to do s o much more " Pru ning feathers

u b ilding nests, and the incessant discipline in mili

u tary arts, are all to be tho ght Of, as much as feeding.

o u o o u S ldiership , especially, is a m ch m re imperi s t necessity among birds than quadrupeds . Nei her lions nor wo lves habit u ally use claws o r teeth in

‘ own s eci es bu t contest with their p ; birds, for their

u - u partners, their nests, their h nting gro nds, and their p ersonal dignity, are nearly always in contention ; their cou rage is u nequ alled by that Of any other race Of animals capable Of comprehending dan ger ;

u and their pertinacity and end rance have, in all ages,

u made them an example to the brave, and an am se

he m . ment to t base, a ong mankind food as can only be obtained by probing crevices,

u u splitting open fiss res, or neatly and min tely p ick

u - n ing things p , is allotted , pre emine tly, to the bird species .

o o f is The f od the robin, as you know, very mis

ell n eOu s Lin n x us o n e c a . says Of the Swedish , that

“ d e lect at u s e u o n m i baccis it is y , delighted with ” — u dogwood berries , the dogwood growing ab n d an tl y in Sweden , as once in Forfarshire, where it

u u u u . grew, tho gh only a b sh s ally in the south , with trunks a foot or eighteen inches in dia meter, and the tree thirty feet high . But the ’ Swedish robin s taste fo r its berries i s t o be noted

o u u co m by y , beca se, first, the dogwood berry is m o n ly said to be s o bitter that it is not eaten by “ ” birds (Loudon, Arboretum , ii . , 497, and , secondly, because it is a p retty coincidence that this most familiar Of hou sehold birds shou ld feed fondly from the tree which gives the ho usewife

— the her spindle, the proper name Of dogwood in

“ English , French, and German being alike Spindle ” tree . It feeds, however, with us, certainly, m ost o n m u wor s and insects . I am not s re ho w far the T 2 I . HE ROBIN . 5 followi n g account of its mode o f dressing its dinners may be depended on :I take it from an Old book o n u but co n Nat ral History, find it, more or less, “ firmed by others : It takes a worm by o n e

m o n extre ity in its beak, and beats it the

ground till the inner p art comes away . Then

seizing it in a similar manner by the other end ,

u it entirely cleanses the o ter part, which alone it ” eats . ’ One s first imp ression is that this must be a sin

ularl u o fo r m g y npleasant Operati n the wor , however

u n fastidio sly delicate and exemplary in the robi .

But I supp ose the real meaning is, that as a worm

lives by passing earth through its body, the robin

u — n o t - o merely compels it to q it this ill g tten , indeed,

n — u m but ow qu ite u nnecessary wealth . We h an

u who o f creat res, have lived the lives worms, collect

u ing d st, are served by Death in exactly the same manner. ’ 2 3 . You will find that the robin s beak, then , is a very prettily representative o n e Of general bird power. As a weapon, it is very formidable indeed ; he can kill an adversary o f his o wn kind with o n e o f u u blow it in the throat ; and is so p gnacio s,

“ ” “ u n ax ae u u t valde p g , says Linn s, non una arbor

u ca i at erithacos can d os p , no single tree hold

- o f two cock robins and for precision seizure, the ’ 6 L vE 2 o s MEINIE .

little flat hook at the end of the upper mandible is

o n e Of the most delicately formed points Of forceps ‘ i But which you can find among the gra n eaters . I

n f hi pass to o e o s m o re sp ecial perfections .

2 4 . He is very notable in the exqu isite silence

m and precision Of his move ents, as Opposed to birds a i o r n . who either creak in flying, w ddle walking

“ ” “ u o f Always quiet, says Go ld, for the silkiness

u m s his p l mage renders his ovements noisele s, and

u Of e the r stling his wings is never heard , any mor

d o n u than his trea earth, over which he bo nds with

Y o u how i m amazing sprightliness . know much

o portance I have always given, am ng the fine arts , to

ou o u o n e good dancing . If y think Of it, y will find ’ ’ Of the robin s very chi e f ingratiatory facu lties is his

— dainty and delicate movement, his footing it featly

here and there . Whatever prettiness there may be

in his red breast, at his brightest he can always be

u B ut o tshone by a brickbat . if he is rationally

u Of p ro d anything about him , I should think a

u u Of robin m st be pro d his legs . H undreds o f

birds have longer and m ore im posing ones— b ut ‘ fo r an d real neatness, finish, precision of action ,

m co mend me to his fine little ankles, and fine little

feet ; this long stilted process, as you know, corre

s o n d in o u r - p g to ankle bone . Commend me, I say,

for Of — he Of d to the robin use his ankles is , all bir s,

’ 28 LovE s MEINIE .

u but which it is not my bu siness t o teach yo . Only

Y o u t o o u t . observe, this is the p oint be made leap

u e b ut yo rs lves, with the toe and ball Of the foot ; ,

t o u u in tha p ower Of leaping, y lose the fac lty Of

o n u grasp ; the contrary, with yo r hands, you grasp

o u o n as a bird with its feet . But y cannot hop

u cat yo r hands . A , a leopard , and a monkey, leap o r grasp with equ al c ase ; b ut the action o f their p aws in leap ing is, I imagine, from the fleshy ball o f the foot ; while in the bird , characteristically r a m r éi vv u o r y / j f, this fleshy ball is red ced to a boss

Of series bosses, and the nails are elongated into sickles o r horns ; nor does the sp ringing p ower. seem t o depend o n the develop ment o f the bosses . They are far more developed in an eagle than a robin bu t yo u know how u npardonably and preposterou sly awkward an eagle is when he hops . When they

o u are m st Of all developed, the bird walks, r ns, and

bu t digs well , leaps badly.

2 n o o f 7 . I have time to speak the various forms

the Of m u Of ancle itself, or the scales Of ar o r, more w apparent than real, by hich the foot and ankle are

u p rotected . The use Of this lect re is not either to

o r o u s o describe to exhibit these varieties to y , but to awaken you r attention to the real points of cha ’ ract e r o u d , that, when y have a bird s foot to raw,

o u s o y may do with intelligence and pleasure, . T 2 I HE ROBIN . 9

o u knowing whether y want to express force, grasp,

u x or firm gro nd pressure, or de terity and tact in motion . And as the actions o f the foot an d the hand in man are made by every great pai nter perfectly

Of m expressive Of the character ind , so the expres

u o r sions of rapacity , cr elty, force Of seizure, in the

the n harpy, grypho , and the hooked and clawed evil

o f u spirits early religio s art, can only be felt by

extreme attention to the original form .

2 u f r 8 . o u r u o o And now I ret rn to main q esti n , ’ “ ? ” the robin s breast to answer, What is a feather

Y o u know something abou t it already ; that it is

u composed Of a q ill, with its lateral filaments, ter m in atin o r g generally, more less, in a point ythat

o f u these extremities the q ills, lying over each other

u w like the tiles Of a ho se, allo the wind and rain

to pass over them with the least possible resistance, and form a p rotectio n alike from the heat and the

c u u u cold ; whi h, in str ct re m ch resembling the scale

u u fo r f armo r ass med by man very dif erent obj ects,

I S I n o f , fact, intermediate, exactly, between the fur beasts and the scales o f fishes ; having the min ute

on e - division Of the , and the armour like symmetry f and s u ccession O the other.

N o t 2 . 9 merely symmetry, Observe, but extreme

e flatn ess . Feath rs are smoothed down, as a field o f corn by wind with rain ; only the swathes laid ’ 3 0 LovE s MEINIE .

u fu r u u in bea tiful order. They are , so str ct rally

u placed as to imply, and s bmit to, the p erpetually

u swift forward motion . In fact, I have no do bt the

D arwm i an theory o n the subj ect is that the feathers

u u Of birds once st ck p all erect , like the bristles Of

u o i a br sh, and have nly been blown flat by cont nual fl ying . ffi Nay, we might even su ciently rep resent the

general manner o f concl u sion in the Darwinian

system by the statement that if yo u fasten a hair

u t o - br sh a mill wheel , with the handle forward , so as

t o develop itself into a neck by moving always in

u the same direction, and within contin al hearing Of a

m - m u stea whistle, after a certain nu ber Of revol tions

the hair - brush will fall in love with the whistle they

m u will arry, lay an egg, and the prod ce will be a nightingale . ’ e i 0 . u 3 Wheth r, however, a hog s br stle can t rn

o o r n o t o u o int a feather , it is vital that y sh uld

f m know the present dif erence between the .

The scientific people will tell yo u that a feather is

o — a comp sed Of three p arts the down , the lamin e, and the shaft .

But the com mon - sense method Of stating the m t f t wo at er is that a feather is composed go parts,

Fo r a shaft with lateral filaments . the greater p art ’ n Of the shaft s length , these filame ts are strong an d T . 1 I . HE ROBIN 3

nearly straight, forming, by their attachment, a finely

Bu t warped sail, like that of a windmill . towards w the root of the feather they suddenly become eak,

u o and conf sedly flexible, and f rm the close down ’ which i m mediately protects th e bird s body .

T O show y o u the typ ical arrangement o f these

u p arts , I choose, as I have said , the robin ; beca se,

o o w o f u b th in his p er flying, and in his colo r, he is a moderate and balanced bird ; — n ot tu rned into n o r bu t othing but wings, like a swallow, nothing

fo r a . fi neck and tail, like peacock And rst his

o n e flying power . There is Of the long feathers Of ’ 1 f Wi a n d . o robin s ng, here (Fig ) the analysis its form .

FI G. 1 .

z f i ( Twice th e si e o real ty . )

1 . , , 3 First, in pure outline (A) seen from above l u it is very nearly a long ova , but with this pec li ’ 3 2 LovE s MEINIE .

arit y, that it has, as it were, proj ecting shoulders

a 1 a 2 o u at and . I merely desire y to Observe this,

o n e u u in passing, because s ally thinks of the contour as sweeping u nbroken from the root to the point . I have n ot time to - day to enter o n any discussion of

fo r . the reason it , which will appear when we ex amine the placing Of the wing feathers for their

stroke .

o u u Now, I hop e y are getting acc stomed to the general method in which I give yo u the analysis Of

— r o r o r . all forms leaf, feathe , shell , or limb First ,

- t he plan ; then the profile ; then the cross section .

B I take next, the p rofile of my feather ( , Fig . and find that it is twisted as the sail O f a wind

b ut c an mill is, more distinctly, so that you always

u see the pper surface of the feather at its root, and

u - . E the nder at its end very primary wing feather,

fl e rs u in the fine y , is th s twisted ; and is best de

’ scribed as a sail striking with the power Of a s c m it ar but y , with the flat instead of the edge .

2 u 3 . F rther, you remember that on the edges Of the broad side o f feathers you find always a series o f u u u u nd lations, irreg larly seq ent , and lapping over

o each ther like waves on sand . You might at first i m agine that this appearance was owing to a slight ru fflin g o r disorder Of the filaments but it is entirely

so normal , and, I doubt not, constructed , in order to I . THE ROBIN . 3 3

ensure a redundance of material in the plume, so that no accident or pressure from wind may leave H a gap anywhere . o w this redu ndance is Obtained

yo u will see in a m o ment by bending any feather

. fo , r u m B the wrong way Bend instance, this pl e, ,

FI G. 2 .

. 2 u 2 Fig , into the reversed c rve, A, Fig . ; then all

the filaments Of the plume become p erfectly even ,

Bu and there are n o waves at the edge. t let the

u u o o m B p l me ret rn int its p roper f r , , and the tissue

n o w o m being c ntracted into a s aller space, the edge

waves are fo rmed I n it instantly .

h o f fila Hitherto, I ave been speaking only the

ments arranged for the strength and continuity o f the energetic plume they are entirely different when they are set together for decoration instead of force . ’ VE 3 4 LO s MEINIE .

’ o f u s After the feather the robin s wing, let examine o n e m fro his breast .

u m o u 3 3 . I said , j st now, he ight be at nce o tshone

o by a brickbat . Indeed , the day bef re yesterday,

Lichfi eld sleeping at , and seeing, the first thing when

n fo r ut the I woke in the morni g, ( I never p down

Of . n u blinds my bedroom wi dows ,) the not ncommon sight in an English country town Of an entire hou se

o f r front ve y neat , and very flat, and very red

u u o bricks, with very exactly sq ared sq are wind ws in it ; and n o t feeling myself in anywise gratified o r b improved y the spectacle, I was thinking how

r o o u in this, as in all othe g d, the too m ch destroyed ’ o f o - all . The breadth a r bin s breast in brick red

d u b ut u - o f - is elicio s, a whole ho se front brick red as

. o n e a vivid, is alarming And c nnot generalize [ yet even that trite moral with any safety— fo r infinite

o f r breadth green is delightful , howeve green ; and o f s k e sea or y, howev r blue .

’ Y o u u m st note, however, that the robin s charm is greatly helped by t he pretty space of grey plu mage which separates the red from the brown

back, and sets it Off to its best advantage . There

s o is no great brilliancy in it, even relieved ; only

the finish Of it is exquisite .

4. o u o u 3 If y separate a single feather, y will find it more like a transparent hollow shell than a feather

’ L E 3 6 OV s MEINIE.

e n o u w shall need chiefly. I the second place, y

' robabl m o st o f ou w p y, y , kno more Of the mythology o f fo r u the robin . than I do, the stories abo t it are

b ut all northern , and I know scarcely any myths

n d Y o u u the Italian a Greek . will find nder the ” ’ m M u na e Robin, in iss Yonge s exha stive and ” C o u admirable History Of hristian Names, the vari s

‘ titles Of hon o u r and endearm ent connected with

’ him — m , and with the general idea Of redness, fro

“ ” o who o u the bish p called Bright Red Fame, f nded

C o n R the first great hristian church the hine, (I

r u u n am af aid Of yo r thinking I mean a p , in con n e ctio n o u it with robins, if I tell y the locality of , ) d o u o t o own thr gh the H ods, and Roys , and Grays,

’ “ ” o o H o bbin o l R bin Go dfellow, and Sp enser s , and

“ ” “ o u r o H o b — o n m dern , joining to the goblin ,

m r l K B which co es f om the O d Greek 68 a h os. ut I cannot let yo u go without asking you to com pare

an d o u d the English French feeling ab t small bir s, in ’ C u w o u r o wn o n u ha cer s time, ith the same s bject .

s a u I y English and French, beca se the original

French o f the Romance o f the Rose shows more ff C ’ a ection for birds than even haucer s translation ,

o fo r passi nate as he is, always , in love any o n e of his little winged brothers or sisters . Look , h o r owever, either in the French English , at the d escription of the coming of the God Of Love, I . THE ROBIN . 3 7

- d o f leading his carol ance, in the garden the

Rose .

His dress is embroidered with figures o f flowers

o f and beasts ; but abou t him fly the li vi ng birds . The French is ’ 11 et oit t out c ou ve rt d oisiaulx D e ro s sign ols et d e a e aux p‘ p g D e a d d e m e s an el e e et . c l n r , g I l sem blait que ce fu t u n e angle ui fuz d z Q t out ro it v en u du ci el . 6 3 . There are several p oints Of philology in this ’ C u r o transitional French, and in ha cer s t anslati n ,

u which it is well worth yo r p atience t o Observe . The ” o u o u u m nkish Latin angel s, y see, is p assing thro gh

“ ” “ m bu t the very unpoetical for angle, into ange ; ,

t o m u o rm in order get a rhy e with it in that ang lar f , ’ u u x d the French tro bado r e pands the bir s name,

” u m e san e l mesange, q ite arbitrarily, into g . Then

“ ” C u o f ha cer, not liking the mes at the beginning

“ u u u u the word , changes that nscr p lo sly into arch ;

u t o o r m and gathers in, tho gh shortly, a lovely bit f o an o ther place abou t the nightingales flyi n g so clo se ’ round Love s head that they strike s o me Of the leaves o ff his crown Of ro ses so that the English run s th u s

B ut t a e s a u eat out nigh ing l , f ll gr r hat flien o ve r his he ad ab out T , The leave s felde n a s the y flien An d h e wa s all w th b rd s wrien i i ,

t o a w th t a n , n g ng e Wi h p pi j y i i h i l ,

th che laun d re an d w th wod ewale Wi , i , ’ 3 8 LOVE s MEINIE .

fin ith a a e th ch w th ar an d w rch n . Wi , i l k, g l

H e seem ed a s h e e e an a e " w r ng l , a That d own we re c om e n from H eave n cle r .

N o w w C u u , hen I first read this bit of ha cer, witho t

was ed referring to the original, I greatly delight to

find that there was a bird in his time called an

u archangel, and set to work, with brightly hopef l

“ fi d t u o u . ind stry, to n what it was I was a little dis co m fit e d by finding that in Old botany the word only

“ m - bu t u u eant dead nettle, was \still sang ine abo t

o u my bird , till I f nd the French form descend , as

ou m esan el y have seen , into a g , and finally into m o GLOV esange, which is a p rovincialism fr m M , and

— o r — a means, the smallest Of birds , sp ecially here,

s o r titmou se . I have seldom had a le s expected more ignominiou s fall from the clo u ds .

o re 3 7 . The ther birds , named here and in the p v io u s o f o u description the garden, are intr d ced , as

can u o an d n o far as I j dge, nearly at rand m , with p recisio n Of imagination like that Of Aristophanes ; bu t with a sweet childish delight in crowding as

m m any birds as possible into the s allest space . The p o pi njay is always pro minent ; and I want some Of y o u t o help me (fo r I have not time at present fo r the chase) in hu nting the parrot down o n his first

u u appearance in Europe . J st at this p artic lar time he contested favour even with the falcon ; and I 1 T . . HE ROBIN 39 think it a piece Of good fortu ne that I chanced to

o f u draw for you , thinking only its brilliant colo r,

. C o the p op inj ay, which arpacci allows to be present ’ o n f the grave occasion O St . George s baptizing the n p ri cess and .her father . 8 C . . r 3 And , indeed, as soon as the h istian poets begin to sp eak Of the singing Of the birds, they sh o w themselves in qu ite a different m o od from

o u t o o any that ever cc rs a Greek . Arist phanes , with infinitely more skill, describes, and p artly imitates , the singing of the nightingale ; b ut sim ply as beau “ ‘ tifu l s o und . It fills the thickets with honey ; and if in the Often - qu oted— j u st becau se it is n ot charac t e rist ic o f r — o f Co lo n e us Greek literatu e p assage the ,

d m a eep er senti ent is shown , that feeling is dep en dent O n asso ciation Of the bird - voices with deeply

i l ir m n es But u u d p athet c c cu s t a c . this tro bado r fin s his heart in heaven by the power o f the ‘s in ging o nly : Trop p arfoisaien t beau servise

iz u ous d e s C o i selle s q e j e v vi e .

I l h a a un ha t tel c nt i ent c n .y l C om fu s se nt a ngle e sp erite .

We want a moment m o re Of word - chasing t o enj oy

“ ” “ u o u o o o this . Oisea , as y kn w, c mes fr m avis ;

“ ” but it had at this time g o t o is e l fo r its singular

“ ” u o f w n mber, hich the terminating sel confused

“ ” “ ” the d o m i ll i tself with selle, from ancilla in se a ’ 0 L vE 4 o s MEINIE .

and demoiselle ; and the feminine form oiselle

thus snatched fo r itself some of the delightfulness

e o f b longing to the title a young lady. Then note “ ‘ e s e rit el n o t m u that p does here ean m erely spirit al ,

“ u u (beca se all angels are spirit al, ) but an angle

e s e rit e l o f . S O p is an angel the air that, in English ,

we co u ld only express the meaning in some su ch fashion as this

he e r e cte d all t he r se rv ce Of Lo ve T y p f i i ,

hes e m a de b d s t hat I e ou o T i n ir t ll y f.

he y s an su ch a s o ng s o fi n i sh ed - a r T g , f i ,

As the we e a e s b o of th e a ir if y r ng l , rn .

u 3 9 . S ch were the fancies, then, and the scenes, in ’ o u which Englishmen t ok delight in Cha cer s time .

E b fo r ngland was then a simple country ; we oasted ,

” o f o u r an d o u r the best kind riches, birds trees, and wives and children . We have now grown to be a

rich o n e ; and o u r first pleasure is in sho oting o u r

birds ; bu t it has beco me t o o expensive fo r us t o D W o ur . keep trees Lord erby , hose crest is the eagle and child— yo u will find the northern name fo r an d it, the bird bantling, made classical by Scott

— is the first to propose that woo d - birds should have n o m u cut d ore nests . We m st own all our trees,

ff se he says, that we may e ectively u the steam

u ff - lo u h I plo gh ; and the e ect of the steam p g , find by a recent article in the Cornhill Magazine, is that 1 . THE ROBIN . 4 1

an English labourer must not any more have a nest,

n o r bu t bantlings, neither ; may only expect to get

o n o u u pr spero sly in life, if he be perfectly skilf l ,

an d sober, honest, and dispenses, at least until he

“ ” - fi ve u . is forty , with the l xury Of marriage

0 . ou 4 Gentlemen, y may perhaps have heard me

blamed fo r making n O effort here t o teach in the ’ r iz o B t a t an s . u sch ols I can only say that, since

the future life Of the English lab o u rer o r art izan

(su m m ing the benefits to him Of recent philos o phy

and economy) is to be passed in a cou ntry without

o u o u angels and with t birds, with t prayers and with

o u t o u an d o songs, with t trees with ut flowers, in a

an d state Of exemplary sobriety, (extending the

Catholic celibacy Of the clergy into celibacy o f the

laity) in a state Of dispensation with the l u xury Of

d o n o t marriage, I believe he will derive either

profit o r entertainment from lectu res o n the Fine

Arts .

I N I E LOV E S M E . looking at a locomotive than at a swallow and that many English philosophers would suppose the pleasure so received to be through a new sense o f “ ” Bu u beauty. t the meaning of the word bea ty in

the fine arts, and in classical literature, is properly restricted to those very qu alities in which the l o com otion o f a swallow differs from that o f an

engine .

2 N o t l o f but 4 . on y from that an engine ; also from that o f animals in whose members the mechanism is s o complex as to give them a

resemblance to engines . The dart of the common

u - fl fo r u ho se y, instance, in f ll strength, is a more

u w wonderf l movement than that of a s allow . The

i o f u b ut mechan sm it is not only more min te, the

o f o s o u swiftness the acti n m ch greater, that the

o f B ut u vibration the wing is invisible . tho gh a schoolboy might prefer the locomotive to the swal lo w u n o t , he wo ld carry his admiration of finely mechanical velocity into u nqualified sympathy with the workmanship of the Go d of Ekron ; and would generally suppose that flies were made only to be

u fl - — food for the more gracef l y catcher, whose finer

o u u o wm grace y will discover, pon reflection, to be g to the very moderation and si m plicity o f its s t ruc u in fi n it ud e t re, and to the subduing of that of j oints,

u claws, tiss es, veins, and fibres which inconceivably 11 THE A . SW LLOW . 4 5

’e ’ vibrate in the m icroscopic l creature s motion; to a quite intelligible and simple balance of rounded

u body pon edged plume, maintained not without visible, and sometimes fatigued, exertion, and raising the lower creatu re into fellowship with the volition

o f u and the virtue h manity .

. u s a 43 With the virt e, I y, in an exceedingly qualified sense meaning rather the strength an d art

m f u displayed in overco ing di fic lties, than any distinct morality of disposition . The bird has kindly and “ ” u u fo r us homely q alities ; but its principal virt e, ,

is its being an incarnate voracity, and that it moves

u Y o u as a cons ming and cleansing power. some times hear it said o f a hu mane person that they would not kill a fly : from 700 to 1000 flies a day are a moderate allowance for a baby swallow .

sa 44. Perhaps, as I y this, it may occur to some o f o u o f y to think , for the first time, of the reason ’

Fo r r . the bird s name . it is ve y interesting, as a ‘ o f t O co n sid e r ff piece language study, the di erent

o n o ur — f power minds , nay the dif erent sweetness

— to the ear, which, from association, these same two

we o r syllables receive, when read them as a noun ,

as a verb . Also, the word is a curious instance o f the traps which are continually open fo r rash

I c all it so be caus e the m em bers an d acti o n o f it cann ot

a b e se en with th e u n id ed eye . hu m id Ci u a m m . rc , stagna so at Notice, in passing, ’ ’ ho w m o f o r a si ile Virgil s, any other great master s, will p robably tell in two o r more ways at once.

u w n o t J turna is compared to the swallo , merely as

d u win ing and t rning swiftly in her chariot, but as

- St a n is u being a water nymph by birth, g q ae ,

fl i n i s u n ri r s id e t H ow um bu e s o o s ae . q , p many dif \

’ fe re n t u o n e b birth creat res in the swallow is y , as a

u o n e u Virgilian simile is many tho ghts in , it wo ld take many m ore lectures than o n e t o show yo u clearly ; but I will indicate them with su ch rough sketch as is possible.

. o o u t o 45 It bel ngs, as most of y know, a family o f - o r - birds called Fissi rostres, , literally, split beaks .

u m Split heads wo ld be a better ter , for it is the enormou s width of mouth and p ower of gaping

e x ress A which the epithet is meant to p . . dull sermon ,

“ fo r o e fi instance, makes half the c ngr gation ss i

rostres . The bird, however, is most vigilant when 11 T . . HE SWALLOW 47

its mouth is widest , for it opens as a net to catch

wa whatever comes in its y, hence the French ,

o m m giving the wh le fa ily the more literal na e,

” o - fl — - u e t he m G bble y Gobe mo che, ext nd ter to the o pen - mouthed and t o o acceptant appearance o f

a simpleton . 6 f 4 . Partly in o rder to p rovide fo r this width o

o u but fo r m th, more the advantage in flight , the head o f o u u the swall w is ro nded into a b llet shape, and

u o n o u d n o s nk down the sh l ers, with neck whatever

s o t o o f between, as give nearly the aspect a conical

u t o o f rifle b llet the entire front the body ; and ,

u indeed, the bird moves more like a b llet than an arro w— dependent o n a certain i m pet us o f weight rather than o n sharp p enetration o f the air . I say

o n b ut n o t dependent , I have yet been able to trace d istinct relation between the shapes o f birds and their

o o f o d p wers flight . I supp se the form of the bo y is

m an d an d first deter ined by the general habits food, that natu re can make any form she chooses vo latile

o n e o only point I think is always n table, that a complete master o f the art o f flight mu st be short

u o u necked, so that he t rns alt gether, if he t rns at ’ Y o u t o all . don t exp ect a swallow l o ok rou nd a corner before he goes round it ; he m ust take his chance . The main point is, that he may be able

an u to stop himself, d t rn, in a moment . ’ 8 E 4 Lov s MEINIE .

. o n is 47 The stopping, any terms, difficult enough

e s o n o f to und rstand ; nor less , the original gaini g the p ace . We always thihk of flight as if the main difficulty of it were only in keeping up in the air b u t u the b oyancy is conceivable enough, the far

o Y o u m re wonderfu l matter is the getting along . find it hard work to row yourself at anything like

u u - st roke is n speed , tho gh yo r impulse given i a heavy

- and I n . element, your return stroke a light one But

both in birds and fishes, the impelling stroke and its

u fo r ret rn are in the same element ; and if, the bird ,

u that medi m yields easily to its impulse, it secedes as easily from the blow that gives it . And if

o u f o u e six y think what an ef ort y make to l ap feet,

fo r u with the earth a fulcr m , the dart either of a trout ‘ o r but wat e r a swallow, with no fulcrum the and air

will . s e em r they penetrate, to you, I think, g eatly

o f e marvellous . Yet the mode in which it is a com plishe d you will as yet find no u ndispu ted account

o n in any book natural history, and scarcely, as far as I know, definite notice even of the rate of flight .

What do yo u s uppose it is ? We are apt to think

i o f as we o u r of the m gration a swallow, should

u o u selves of a serio s journey. How long, do y

u think, it would take him, if he flew uninterr ptedly , to get from here to Africa ? 8 4 . Michelet gives the rate of his flight (at fu ll 11 T . . HE SWALLOW 49

I u . speed, of course, ) as eighty leag es an hour find

n o more sou nd au thority ; but do not doubt his

approxim ate accu racy still how cu riou s and how

' o n o f pr voki g it is that neither White Selborne,

n o r o u Bewick , Yarrell, Gould , says a word ab t this ,

o n e u r w sho ld have thought the most inte esting, po er

o f the bir d s " ’ M iche let s — u Taking estimate eighty French leag es ,

u u m u — we ro ghly two h ndred and fifty iles, an ho r

o u u u t o have a th sand miles in fo r ho rs . That is

a e say, leaving Devonshire fter an early br akfast, he

u u co ld be in Africa to l nch .

u bu t 49 . He co ld, I say, if his flight were constant

o u u u th gh there is m ch inconsistency in the acco nts , the s u m of testimony seems definite that the swallo w

“ m o u o f is among the st fatig able birds . When the ” “ u weather is hazy, (I q ote Yarrell) they will alight

o n fi shin - t wo o g boats a league or fr m land , so tired

o n e can that when any tries to catch them , they

scarcely fly from one end of the boat to the other .

I have no time to read to yo u the interesting evi

I ote th s s om e t m e a o an d the e d e avou I have s e wr i i g , n r inc m ad e t o ve rify st at em ent s on p o int s of n atu ral hi st o ry which I h ad t ake n on t ru st ha ve give n m e rea s o n t o d oubt e very ’ b The o d ar fl ht of the swa ow d oe s n o ody s a ccu rac . r n t y i y ig ll ,

v he d ashe s ea h a th th s s a ssu red e e n n t , r c n ng e ee d . ly, i y i lik i p

1' Incid e nt ally sugge st ive s e nt ences o ccu r in th e hi st o ry of

b u i au tho n eve om es t o th e o t th a b t ts s se . Sel o rn e, r r c p in , in i c ’ o 5 LOVE S MEINIE .

o n o f dence this point given by Yarrell, but only that

“ the o f o f brother White Selborne, at Gibraltar . My

“ r o u m b other has always f nd, he hi self writes, that

m o f u o so e his birds, and partic larly the swall w kind , are very sparing o f their pains in crossing the Medi

fo r n o t terranean when arrived at Gibraltar, they do ’ bu t u set forth their airy caravan , high over seas, sco t and hu rry along in little detached parties o f six o r

low u o seven in a company and sweeping , j st ver the

u o f o u t o s rface the land and water, direct their c rse the o pp o site continent at the narrowest p assage they

” can find . Y 0 . o u o 5 will observe, h wever, that it remains an op en qu estion whether this fear o f the sea may not f t h o u o . be, in the swallow, like rs e desert The com m issariat department is a serio u s o n e fo r birds that eat a tho u sand flies a d ay when j ust o ut o f the egg ; and it is p o ssible that the weariness o f swallows at sea may depend much m o re o n fasting than

C o r ? C flying . aptain ( Admiral ) Sir harles Wager

“ o n e r — m u says that sp ing ti e, as he came into so nd

C o f ings in the English hannel, a great flock swallo ws came an d settled o n all his rigging ;

every ro pe was covered ; they h ung on o n e another like a swarm o f bees ; even the decks were filled

with them . They seemed almost famished and

spent, and were only feathers and bone ; but, being

’ 2 L v M 5 o E s EINIE .

2 u o u 5 . S ppose y had never seen a swallow ; but that its general habit of life had been described to

o u o u a o u u y , and y had been sked, how y tho ght

u u o b s ch a bird would build its nest . A creat re,

serve, whose life is to be passed in the air ; whose beak and throat are shaped with the fineness o f a

fo r o f net the catching gnats and whose feet, in

o f s o the most perfect the sp ecies, are feeble that it

is o called the F otless Swallow, and cannot stand a

moment o n the gro und with comfort . Of all land

the o n e o f birds, that has least to do with the earth

all, the least disposed, and the least able, to stop to

p ick anything up . What will it build with Gos

u — — samer, we sho ld say, thistledown , anything it can

catch floating, like flies .

B u f ut it b ilds with sti f clay .

u 5 3 . And observe its chosen place for b ilding also .

Y o u u wo ld think, by its play in the air, that not

o o f but o f u nly all birds, all creat res, it most de

in Y o u lighted space and freedom . would fancy it s notion o f the place for a nest would be the openest field it could find ; that anything like co n

fi n e m e n t wou ld be an agony to it ; that it would

m o f o f al ost expire horror at the sight a black hole .

"

And its favourite home is down a chimney. ’ N o t fo r t fo r 54. your hear h s sake, nor your ’ company s . Do not think it . The bird will love 11. T HE SWALLOW . 5 3 you if you treat it kindly ; I s as frank and friendly

o as bird can be ; but it d es not, more than others ,

u u seek your society. It comes to yo r house beca se in n o n o r u can wild wood , ro gh rock, it find a cavity close

u t o o f eno gh p lease it . It comes for the blessedness

o f imprisonment, and the solemnity an unbroken and

o I n o r u . c nstant shadow, the tower, nder the eaves

D o yo u suppose that this is part o f its necessary

m o u econo y, and that a swallow c ld not catch flies unless it lived in a hole

N o t o f so . This instinct is part its brotherhood

o o f u is t o with an ther race creat res . It given com

t u o f o f ple e a mesh in the retic lation the orders life .

o u 5 5 . I have already given y several reasons for

ou u my wish that y sho ld retain, in classifying birds,

n o o f a m o t o the w rej ected order Picae. I g ing read

o u o o u y a p assage from Humboldt, which sh ws y

f o n e o for f what di ficulties may get int want o it .

Y o u will find in the second vo l um e o f his pers o nal

u o f C N e narrative, an acco nt of the cave aripe in w

u u Andal sia, which is inhabited by entirely noct rnal

u o f - birds, having the gaping mo ths the goat sucker

o n u and the swallow, and yet feeding fr it .

. u n U , H o t nless which Mr mboldt does tell us, they

sit under the trees outside, in the night time, and

fo r hold their mouths open , the berries to drop into , there is not the smallest occasion for their having ’ LovE s 54 MEINIE .

’ . i wide mouths, like swallows Still less is q there u cat e rs any need, since they are fr it , for their living

u t o f in a cavern feet o daylight. They have

o f only, in consequence, the trouble carrying in

t o o o f the seeds feed their young, and the fl or the

u cave is th s covered, by the seeds they let fall, with

o f a growth unfortunate pale plants, which have

never seen day. Nay, they are not even content

with the darkness o f their cave ; but bu ild their

nests in the funnels with which the ro o f o f the

grotto is pierced like a sieve ; live actu ally in the

n o t o f u but o f s e ul chimney, a ho se, an Egyptian p

o u o f o f so chre The c lo r this bird, remarkable taste “ u u s in lodging, H mboldt tells , is of \dark bluish k Of grey, mixed with streaks and sp ec s black . Large

o o m o f white sp ts, which have the f r a heart, and

which are bordered with black, mark the head, the

o f wings , and the tail . The spread the wings, which

o f o r u are composed seventeen eighteen q ill feathers ,

f. u is three feet and a hal S ppressing, with Mr.

C u o o f vier, the rder Picae, we must refer this extra ” r o s ordinary bird to the Spar w . 6 5 . We can only suppose that it must be, to o ur o u the ~ swallow o f p p lar sparrows, what \ the

r cinnamon cou ntry is to o u subordinate swallow . D o

o u o o f u y rec llect the cinnamon swallows Herodot s, who bu ild their mud nests in the faces of the cliffs T . II . HE SWALLOW 5 5

Dio n u so s o u u where was br ght p, and where nobody can get near them and ho w the cinnamon m erchants

‘ o f u fetch them joints meat, which the nadvised birds,

' u t o o f flying p their nests with, instead cinnamon ,

— o m o o — o f nest and all c e d wn t gether, the original ’ Sinbad s valley - o f- diam o nd sto ry

u m o r f . o 5 7 Well, H b ldt is educed, by necessities

o t o e recent classificati n, call a bird thr e feet and a half

o . t o u across the wings, a sparr w I have no right la gh

a m u o n t o at him, for I j st g i g, myself, call the cheer u o f o f o wl f llest and brightest birds the air, an . All

u E these architectural and sep lchral habits, these gyp

o f - m tian manners the sand artin, digging caves in ’ o - o o f the sand , and b rder tro per s habits the chimney

o u o o f e swallow, living in r nd t wers instead op n air, belong t o them as co nnected with the tribe o f the

o u " o s o b ut falcons thr gh the owls and not nly , with the m am malia thro u gh the bats " A swallow is an

m o wl b ut e ancipated , and a glorified bat ; it never forgets its fell owship with night .

cie t o 8 . an n 5 Its fell wship , I had nearly written ; so natural is it to think of these similarly- minded

f o creatures, when the eelings that both sh w are evi

e n tl t o o n e o f had d y useless them , as if the inferior

o f changed into the higher . The doctrine develop

ment seems at first to explain all so pleasantly, that the scream o f consent with which it has been 6 ’ 6 LOVE s 5 MEINIE .

o f vo cife accepted by men science, and the shriller ’ o f u u ration the p blic s gregarious appla se, scarcely

o f permit yo u the power antagonist reflectio n . I

u u t o - i n u u m st j stify day, graver tone than s al, the

— it terms in which I have hitherto spoken, may have been thought with less than the d u e respect to my

— o f u o . audience, the pop lar the ry

u h o f 59 . S pposing that the octo edrons of galena,

a n d o f o f o gold, oxide ir n , were endowed with

o f o u p owers repr d ction, and perished at appointed d o f u o r o u o u u ates dissol tion solution, y w ld witho t any doubt have heard it by this time asserted that

o ct ohed ric o was the f rm , which common to all, indi cat e d their descent fro m a comm on progenitor ; and it wou ld have been ingeniously explaine d to yo u ho w the angular offspring o f this eight - sided ancestor

m o f had developed the selves, by f rce o circ u m

o stances, int their distinct metallic perfections ; how the galena had beco me grey and brittle u nder

u prolonged s bterranean heat, and the gold yellow

u and d ctile, as it was rolled among the pebbles o f

- u am ber colo red streams . 6 0 . By the denial to these stru ctures of any indi

v u u id ally reprod ctive energy, you are forced to accep t

the inexplicable (and why exp e ct \it to be otherwise ? o f o m than inexplicable ) fact, the f r ati o n o f a series o f i a a bodies having very s mil r aspects, qu lities, and I I TH E . . SWALLOW 5 7

u e t chemical relations to other s bstances, which y

n o have connection whatever with each other, and

i n are governed , their relation with their native rocks,

r d by entirely a bi trary laws . It has been the pri e o f m o dern chem istry t o extricate herself from the

o f m t o m vanity the alche ist, and ad it, with r u esignation, the independent, tho gh apparently

u o f o f e o f u fraternal, nat res, silver, l ad , platin m,

u m u - u e al ini m, potassi m . Henc , a rational philosophy wo u ld ded uce the probability that when the arbor e scen ce o f dead crystallization rose into the radiati o n o f u the living tree, and sentient plume, the splendo r o f nat ure in her more exalted power wou ld n ot be restricted t o a less variety o f design ; and the beau tifu l caprice in which she gave to the silver its

t o u n o t u u d frost , and the opal its fire, wo ld be s bd e u d o u o f n er the sl w infl ences accident and time, when w she reathed the swan with snow, and bathed the

dove in iridescence . That the infinitely more exalted

o u p owers f. life must exercise more intimate infl ence over matter than the reckless fo rces o f cohesi on ; and that the l o ves and hat reds o f the n ow consciou s creatu res would modify their fo rm s into parallel

u an d bea ty degradation, we might have anticipated

u by reason, and we o ght long since to have known

But o f by observation . this law its spirit over the

u n o f n e s bsta ce the creature involves, cessarily, the

6 A ’ LovE 5 8 s MEINIE.

e of in fe indistinctness of its typ , and the existence

an d o f aa rior higher conditions, which whole ras of heroism and affection— whole aeras of misery and

u l n u miscond ct, confirm into g ory, or co f se into

shame. Collecting the causes of changed form , in

u o r — b lower creat res, by distress, by adaptation, y the

u o r o f dist rbance intensifying the parental strength,

— and the native fortune the wonder is, not that species

u but should sometimes be conf sed , that the greater

' u o f s o n mber them remain so splendidly, manifestly, so eter nally distinct ; and that the vile ind u stries

u o f and vicio s curiosities modern science, while they have robbed the fields o f England o f a thou sand

u n ot living creat res, have created in them one .

6 1 k n e . But even in the paltry owledge w have o w — u btained, hat unanimity have we what sec rity

u o f S ppose any man ordinary sense, knowing the

u o f m u val e ti e, and the relative importance of s bjects o f u w tho ght, and that the hole scientific world was

'o f agog concerning the origin species, desired to

o f — know first all what was meant by a species .

He would naturally look for the definition of

species first among the higher animals, and expect it ‘ to be best defined in those which were best known .

And being referred fo r satisfacti o n to the 2 26th page

’ “ o f u o f the first vol me Mr. Darwin s Descent of ” Man, he would find this passage

’ E 6o LOVE s MEINI . in death nothing but food for the worm and the

u v lture .

62 N ow o u . I have first traced for y the relations o f the creatu re we are examining to those beneath

B ut o u o t o . it and ab ve, to the bat and the falcon y will find that it has still others to entirely another

o u world . As y watch it glance and skim over the

u o u s rface of the waters, has it never struck y what relation it bears t o the creat u res that glance and

u nder u ? - o f glide their s rface Fly catchers , some

—fl - w them, also, y catchers in the same manner, ith wide m o u th ; while in motion the bird alm ost exactly co mbines the dart o f the trou t with the dash of the

o t o o u o d lphin, the r nded f rehead and projecting mu zzle o f which its o wn bullet head and bill exactly

o o u o u w . , t c rresp nd In its pl nge if y atch i bathing, yo u m ay see it dip its breast j ust as m u ch under the

Y o u water as a porpoise shows its back above . can

e only rightly describ the bird by the resemblances,

i o f and mages what it seems to have changed from ,

— then adding the fantastic and beautiful contrast o f

u a the nimagin ble change. It is an o wl that has been trained by the Graces . It is a bat that o r e l ves the mo ning light . It is the a rial reflection o f a dolphin . It is the tender domestication o f a trout . 6 3 . And yet be assured, as it cannot have been all T 6 1 II . HE SWALLOW.

e these creatures, so it has never, in truth, be n any of them . The transfo rmati o ns believed in by the mytho logists are at least spiritually tru e ; yo u can n o t too carefu lly trace o r too accu rately consider them . But the transform ations believed in by the anatomist are as yet pro ved tru e in n o single ih

an d u u o r m stance, in no s bstance, spirit al aterial ;

t o o o o r t o o u o u and I cannot ften , earnestly, rge y n o t to waste yo u r time i n gu essing what ani m als m a o u m y once have been, while y re ain in nearly

o f total ignorance what they are. 6 D . o o u 4 y even know distinctly from each other, ’ — (fo r that is the real nat u ralist s bu siness ; instead

u - d o o u w of confo nding them with each other) , y kno distinctly the five great species o f this familiar bird ?

— w u - - the swallo , the ho se martin , the sand martin, the

— o r o u s o m u swift, and the Alp ine swift can y ch as answer the first qu estion which wo u ld s uggest itself t o any c arefu l o bserver o f the form o f its m o st

— o familiar species, yet which I do not find prop sed ,

— m far less answered , in any scientific book, na ely, why a swall o w has a swall ow- tail

It is true that the tail feathers in m any birds

— u u o appear to be entirely, even c mbro sly, dec ra

o f Bu . t tive ; as in the peacock, and birds paradise

o I am confident that it is not so in the swall w, and that the forked tail, so defined in form and ’ 62 LOVE s MEINIE .

I n strong plume, has indeed important functions in guidingthe flight ; yet notice how s u rrounded o n e is o n all sides with pitfalls for the theorists . The ’ u f forked tail reminds yo at once o a fish s ; and yet , the actio n o f the two creat u res is wholly contrary .

m A fish lashes hi self forward with his tail, and steers with his fins ; a swall o w lashes himself fo rward with ‘ r n ot ne ces his fins, and steers with his tail pa tly, s aril u o y, beca se in the most dashing of the swall ws, the

o o f . swift, the f rk the tail is the least developed And

I never watch the bird fo r a m o ment witho ut finding m yself in some fresh p u zzle o u t of which there is n o

o fo r clue in the scientific bo ks . I want to know,

ho w instance, the bird turns . What does it do with o n e w w ? t e wing, hat ith the other Fancy h pace that has t o be sto pped ; the force o f bridle- hand p ut o ut

‘ in ho t he u an instant . Fancy w wings m st bend with the strain ; what need there must be for the

o o f perfect aid and w rk every feather in them . There

m fo r o u u — H o w is a proble y , st dents of mechanics, does a swallow turn

e - You shall see, at all events, to b gin with, to day, how it gets along.

6 o u s e e o u 5 . I say y shall ; but indeed y have often

’ s — at n o t w een , and felt, least with your hands, if ith

u u - ou yo r sho lders, when y chanced to be holding

o f the sheet a sail . THE 6 II . SWALLOW. 3

' I have said that I never go t into scrapes by blam

ing p eople wrongly ; bu t I o ften do by praising them

bu t . e u u o wrongly I never prais d , witho t q alificati n, o n e scientific book in my life (that I remember) — this ’ o f n u Dr . Pettigrew s o the Wing and now I m st

” On the Ph s o o of a sa t o s o f the o a y i l gy Wings . Tr n c i n R y l

o et of E d bu h ol r I a ot su fi e t V Pfi t . S ci y in rg . . ii c nn f ci n ly e xpre ss e ith e r m y wo nd e r or regret a t th e p et ulance in which

m en of s e e are o t u a t em t ed t o m m atu e ub t ci nc c n in lly p in i r p lici y,

b th a s t a h h a e a e a e o f t s y e ir riv l hip wi h e c o t e r . P g ft r p g hi

boo k h s ow d e ste d an d t a e ou se u o m t , w ich , l ly ig k n c n l p n, igh h ave be en a n ob e c o ntr but on t o n a tu ra h st or is o ccu ed l i i l i y, pi w th d s ut e utte r y u se e s s t o the read e r on the u e st o n o f the i i p l l , q i

or t of the autho b s om e m o th s t o a e h s ava t p r y r n Fr nc n , n i i , y , i the st atem ent o f a principle which n e ithe r has yet pro ve d ; while p age afte r p a ge i s re ndere d worse tha n u sele s s t o the ’ re ad e r by th e auth or s p a ssi o nat e e nd ea vour t o c o ntradict th e

a a The o em ide s of u nquest i o n ably pre vi ous inve st ig to rs . p r bl

of fl t was t o all se ous u ose so e d b o e 1 680 g r r v y r n , i h , i p p , l B lli i a n d the following pa s s age i s v ery n o t able a s a n exam pl e o f th e way in which the e nde avou r t o o b s cure the light of form e r ages t o o fat ally d im s an d d ist ort s tha t by which m ode rn m en of

s e e a k th em se o e an d all wh o ha v tt e e s . e ci nc w l , lv B r lli, wri n s e his t m e a re u a m o us a fi m that th e ho zo t a inc i , n ni in f r ing ri n l t ran s fere nce of th e b ody of th e bird i s d ue t o the p e rpendicu lar v brat o n of th e w ngs a n d t o the e d n o f th e o st e r o r o r i i i , yi l i g p i

fl ex b e m a s of th e w s an u a d d e t o as the w s i l rgin ing in pw r ir c i n, ing ” “ d d 1 D r P t w am owe e d s o se d t o attri e s e . . e t e h v c n ( igr ) , r, i p bute it t o the a t I st th at i ne wi n s b oth w e e evat ed a n d c ), n f ( g , h l d e e s s ed lea or wa r ds u ve s t o se u u r , n c r c rve s n t n t o orm p pf i , h i i g f a o t uous wa ed t a zu d to til e ten d en c i oni c/i ne ood c n in v r ck ( ) , y t y o Me oi r d [ ms to s wi n or wa r ds a m o e or es s ho z f g f , in r l ri ont al d e t o t oken on ce set i n m oti on rd t o the o stru t o of ir c i n , , (3 ), c n c i n ’ E 64 Lov s MEINIE .

u ( q alify my praise considerably, discovering, when I

n o exami ed the book farther, that the good doct r had described the motion o f a bird as resemblin g that o f

u u re re a kite, witho t ever inq iring what, in a bird, p

m m o f sented that so ewhat i portant part a kite, the

Y o u u o f string . will, however, find the book f ll th e w n s ; the are e a st c he c e s or s cre ws wh ch tw st an d i g y l i li , i i u ntw st wh e the v brat e a n d l en d l o oeur u wa rds a n d i il y i , p on wa r ds a n wei nl s us en ded r om i li eni th t o the r eacti on y g p f (4 ), o Me a i r on Me u n der s u r a ces of th e s th to [be ev er f f wing (5 ) , n a r i n ower wi i n wni cli tne wi n s a r e u r ed th s be y g fi g g , i ing gre atest at the b eg nn ng of the d own - stro e a n d east at th e i i k , l en d o f th e u on e 6th to Me con tr a cti on o fli e v olu n ta r p ; ( ), f y m uscles an d e ast am e t s an d t o the e e t o du ed b the l ic lig n , ff c pr c y v a rio us inclin ed su rfa ce s fo rm e d by th e wings d uring the ir o s c at o n s ; 7th) to Me wei nl o Me oi r d — we ght t se ill i ( , g f i i lf, w a t u o s be om a o e n o e an d so h en c ing p n wing , c ing pr p lli g p w r, ” bu o h o zo a m ot o co nt ri ting t ri nt l i n .

I o e t the se se e eas o s for th o wa d m ot o will c ll c v n r n e f r r i n , in the g st o f them wh ch I h ave m a r ed by ta cs th at the re ad e r i , i k i li , m a be tt e ud e o f the o e t ve va u The b d i a d y r j g ir c ll c i l e . ir s c rrie

D r P e tt w o rwa rd a cc o rd ng t o . re f , i ig w 1 e au se it s s ea o a d . . B c ing l p f rw r

2 e au s e it s b o d h as a t e d e t o sw o wa . B c y n ncy ing f r rd .

e au se the w s are s ews so o s u 3 . B c ing cr c n tr cte d a s t o s cre w

u a d s an d o a d s an b od su s e d e d om h pw r nw r y y p n fr t em .

s e au se the a ir ea t s on the u d e su a e s of th wi s B c r c n r rf c e ngs .

n e ause th e w s are u e d th e e - a ow e . t B c ing rg wi v r v rying p r x o B e ause the o u ta m u s e s o t a c v l n ry cl c n r ct .

B e au se th e b d i s h ea w c ir vy.

h at m ust b e th e ene ra c ond t on s of m odern s c enc e W g l i i i , whe n it i s p ossible for a m an of great expe rim ent al kn o wle dge T 6 II . HE SWALLOW . 5

important observations, and illustrated by valuable B drawings . ut the point in qu estio n yo u must settle fo r u o u o f o u yo rselves, and y easily may . Some y ,

u p erhaps, knew, in yo r time, better than the doctor, ho w a kite sto pped ; but I do not do ubt that a great m o f o u o m u t o any y also kn w, now, what is ch more

u ho w the p rpose, a ship gets along. I will take the

o u m u u o f simplest, the m st nat ral , the ost bea tif l sails ,

— o f the lateen sail the Mediterranean .

66 u u u . I draw it r dely in o tline, as it wo ld be s et fo r a side - wind o n the boat y o u probably

— o f u o n o f know best, the boat b rden the Lake

n o t o u n Geneva (Fig. c nf si g the drawing by

d the o u ad ing mast, which , y know, rakes a little,

a u carrying the yard across it . ( ) . Then , with yo r

o b u permission, I will l ad my oat th s, with a few

— t o m o f V , o o casks evay vintage and keep the c l,

u t s o we will p an awning over them , Next, as

c o of m we are classical s h lars, instead this rustic ste

f m t o run o n o the boat, eant only easily a flat

1. o c we 6. . shore, will give it an Attic 7 6 ( ) (We

a e u t t o ubl sh o se se su h as th s an d p ra ct ic l ing n i y, p i n n n c i ,

an d u os es s a e the as s be com ng t o all nte nt s r , n n , n o n i , i p p i i p i o f his e ndea vou r t o o verthro w the st atem e nt s of his rival ?

H ad he m e rely t ake n p ati e nce t o c on sult an y elem entary s chola r

n d nam c s he wou d have be e n e n ab e d t o u nd e rst and his i y i , l l

h an d d eve o e th e d t t o h m se ha own m a c n es , w cr w t had i , l p i i i lf,

t e s bee n rightly j udged or n otic ed by o h r . ’ 66 LOVE s N MEI IE .

ut e oxov o n have no business, indeed, yet, to p an p fi

a o f u t o a bo t b rden, but I hope some day see all o ur o f d w ships war loade ith bread and wine, instead o f c artillery . ) Then I shade the entire form ( ) ;

d — o u and , lastly, reflect it in the water ( ) and y have t seen something like hat before, besides a boat, ’ haven t yo u

FI G . . 3

o f u fo r ut There is the gist the whole b siness you , p

68 ’ LOVE S MEINIE .

’ ” s o o f given to the bird s support, that every atom ’ fo rce in o f the blow is service.

68 o u u . Therefore y have to construct yo r organic

n u e co n o weapo , so that this absol tely and perfectly m ized force m ay be distributed as the bird chooses at any moment . That , if it wants to rise, it may be able to strike vertically more than obliquely ;

a - ma ut if the order is, go head, that it y p the oblique

o n t o screw . If it wants stop in an instant, that it may be able t o throw its wings up fu ll t o the wind ;

t o if it wants to hover, that it may be able lay

u o n o r itself q ietly the wind with its wings and tail, ,

m u in cal air, to reg late their vibration and expansion

u o f o r o into tranq illity gliding, of pausing p wer .

u o f ht Given the vario s p rop ortions weig , and wing ; the conditions o f possible increase of mu scu lar force and qu ill - strength in p roportion to size ; and the

f o u m o f — o u di ferent bjects and circ stances flight, y

o f x u have a series e q isitely complex p roblems,

u u and exq isitely perfect sol tions, which the life o f the yo u ngest among yo u cannot be long eno ugh

s o u o o f to read through m ch as nce, and which

u in fin it ud es o f the fut re human life, however

’ I d o n t kn ow wh at word t o u se for an infinite sim al d e ’ gre e or d ivided p o rti o n of fo rc e on e can t p rop e rly speak of a force be ing cut int o pie ces but I can think of n o other word m t h an at o . T 6 11 . . HE SWALLOW 9

o r b e u ad granted extended , never will fatig ed in

ir i m at on .

u u f 6 . o 9 I take the r de o tline sail in Fig . 3 , and n ow considering it as a j ib o f o n e o f o ur o wn sailing I vessels, slightly exaggerate the oops at the edge, and

FI G . 4.

u m draw c rved lines fro them to the opposite point, ’ o r Fig . 4 ; and I have a reptilian dragon s wing,

u o o f su which wo ld, with some ramificati n the p ’ ’ o m o r t o p rting ribs, beco e a bat s moth s that is

o f m r say, an extension me brane between the ibs

u m (as in an brella), which will catch the wind,

u u a b ut and fl tter pon it, like leaf ; cannot strike

t o u o u it any p rp se. The flying sq irrel drifts like

a falling leaf ; the bat flits like a black rag to rn

we . u at the edge To give power, must have pl mes

as o f - that can strike, with the flat a sword blade ; ’ o LO 7 VE S MEINIE .

er ect o be r and to give p f p wer, these must laid ove

u o n e each other, so that each may s pport the below

it . I use the word below advisedly :we have t o strike

d own o o n e m . The l west feather is the that first eets

o o n e u the adverse f rce . It is the to be s pp orted .

N o f r o f u Y o u u w o the manner the s pport . m st all

kn o w well the lo o k o f the m achico lated parapets in

ae Y o u o n medi val castles . know they are carried rows

o f u u so small projecting b ttresses constr cted that,

u u o - o u tho gh the pperm st stone , far pr jecting , wo ld

u o u o break easily nder any sh ck, it is s pp rted by the

t o o n o . next below, and so , d wn the wall Now in this

figu re I am o bliged t o separate the feathers by white

t o o o u . spaces , sh w y them distinctly In reality they

o b e bu t u are set as close to each ther as can k p tting

o u a Or a f o . o r them as cl se as I can, y get , Fig 5 , the ’ u o o f n ro gh secti n the wi g, thick towards the bird s

h u ead, and c rved like a sickle, so that in striking

- down it catches the air, like a reaping hook , and in

u o ff - u rising p , it throws the air like a pent ho se .

o u 0 . u 7 The str ke wo ld therefore be vigoro s , and f the recovery almost ef ortless, were even the directio n

u Bu t o f both act ally vertical . they are vertical only i ’ with relation to the b rd s body. In space they follow the forward flight, in a softly curved line the down n ff ward stroke bei g as e ective as the bird chooses, the recovery scarcely encounters resistance in the 11 T . 1 . HE SWALLOW 7

' can o n l softly gliding ascent . Thus, in Fig . 5 , (I y explain this to readers a little versed in the elements o f B u o f o f mechanics, ) if is the loc s the centre gravity o f o w o f the bird, m ving in slo flight in the direction

o W o f of the arr w, is the locus the leading feather its

a a u wing, and and , ro ghly, the successive positions

- o f the m ug I n the down stroke and recovery.

FI G. 5 .

1 w - o ff 7 . I say the do n str ke is as e ective as the bird

o o t o ch ses that is say, it can be given with exactly

u o f u an d u of the q antity imp lse, exactly the q antity

u o u m o u s pp rting power, req ired at the ment . Th s,

t o o when the bird wants fly sl wly, the wings are

u d t o fl ttere fast, giving vertical blows ; if it wants

u pa se absolutely in still air, (this large birds cannot d o n ot u , being able to move their wings fast eno gh, )

o the velocity bec mes vibration, as in the humming

but t o f bird if here is wind, any the larger birds can

on o wn lay themselves it like a kite, their weight

u o f answering the p rpose the string, while they keep the wings and tail in an inclined plane, giving them as m uch gliding ascent as counteracts the fall . They ’ 2 LovE s E 7 M INIE.

w us e nearly all, ho ever, some slightly gliding force at

fo r the same time ; a single stroke of the wing, with

u ward intent, seeming eno gh to enable them to glide

u o n fo r half a m inute or more without stirri ng a pl me .

A circlin g eagle floats an inconceivable time witho ut visible stroke :(fancy the pretty action of the inner

backin o f wing, g air instead water, which gives exactly

o f the breadth circle he chooses) . But for exhibition of the complete art of flight, a swallow on rough

o f water is the master masters . A seagull, with

cut all its splendid power, generally has its work o ut is for it, and visibly fighting ; but the swallow plays with wind and wave as a girl plays with

sa her fan, and there are no words to y how many

its things it does with wings in any ten seconds,

u m st ei o f and does cons mmately. The y y its dart remains always inexplicable to me ; no eye can trace

f bo the bending o w that sends that living arrow. But the main structure of the noble weapon we

u may with little pains nderstand .

2 a o . 7 . In the sections and of Fig 5 , I have only

represented the quills of the outer part of the wing .

The relation of these, and of the inner quills, to the ’ Si bird s body may be very mply shown . 6 i . s e Fig a rude sketch, typically r presenting the

o f act uall fo un ded o n wing any bird, but y‘ chiefly the ’ seagull s . I I TH E . . SWALLOW 73

f B o . It is broadly composed two fans, A and The ’ u o f o tmost fan , A, is carried by the bird s hand ; which I rudely sketch the contou r of the bones at

FI G. 6.

’ B a . The innermost fan, , is carried by the bird s

- a a , fore rm, from wrist to elbow ’ LovE s 74 MEINIE .

n u c o ur The stro g humer s, , corresponding to arm

o f from shoulder to elbow, has command the whole

u instr ment . No feathers are attached to this bone ; but covering and protecting ones are set in the skin of it, completely filling, when the active wing is open,

u o f the space between it and the body. But the pl mes

an d B the two great fans, A , are set into the bones in

8 o n Fig . , farther , are shown the projecting knobs on

aim fo r o f u the main bone, set the reception the q ills ,

m u u which ake it look like the cl b of Herc les . The connection o f the still more p o werfu l qu ills o f the

O uter fan with the bones of the hand is qu ite beyond

m fo r all y poor anatomical perceptions , and, happily

o f me, also beyond needs artistic investigation

a of 73 . The fe thers the fan A are called the ‘ \ m f B . o ff . e c pri aries Those the fan , secondaries E

u fo r tive actions of flight, whether for s pport or

m o u ward oti n, are, I believe, all exec ted with the

o f brie fl d primaries, every one which may be y e scribed as the strongest scym it ar that can be

o f u u made q ill s bstance ; flexible within limits, and elastic at its edges— carried by an elastic central

— — shaft twisted like a windmill sail " striking with the

flat, and recovering with the edge . The secondary feathers are more rounded at the t ends, and frequently notched ; heir curvature is

o f a are a reversed to that the prim ries they rranged,

’ 76 LOVE S MEINIE .

m ain feathers of the wing closed . The secondaries are folded o ver the primaries and the primaries shu t u o p cl se, with their outer edges parallel , or nearly

8 FI . G.

. . 8 u so Fig ro ghly shows the outline of the bones ,

o f in this position, of one the larger

I fi n d e ve n thi s m e re outline of an atoi n ical st ru cture so nt er e re w th the tem er n wh ch I W sh m reade rs t o th n i f i p i i i y i k, that I sh a w thd a it m om d ll i r w in y c plete e iti o n . 11 T . . HE SWALLOW 77

75 . Then Fig . 9 is (always sketched in the roughest f u . 10 o way) the o ter, Fig the inner, surface a ’ u 1 1 seag ll s wing in this position . Next, Fig. shows

o f u the tops the fo r lowest feathers in Fig. 9 , in mere

u u o ff so can o tline A separate (p lled , that they be s et B u u o side by side) , sh t p close in the f lded

C wing, opened in the spread wing. 6 . ou u 7 And now, if y will yo rselves watch a few

o r birds in flight, opening and closing their wings to

u o u o u pr ne them , y will soon kn w as m ch as is

u fo r o u r u needf l art p rposes and , which is far more

how we desirable, feel very little know, to any

o f e u o ur purpose, ven the familiar creat res that are

o m c panions . " Even what we have seen t o - day is more than appears to have been noticed by the most carefu l painters o f the great schools ; and you will continually fancy that I am inconsistent with myself

s o u a in pre sing y to le rn , better than they, the

o o f anat my birds, while I violently and constantly urge you to refuse the knowledge o f the anatomy of

But o u men . y will find, as my system developes

u u itself, that it is absolutely consistent thro gho t . I ’ o u n o t u d don t mean, by telling y to st y human

L arge an d s om ewhat carefu lly painted di agram s were sho at the e tu e wh h I a ot e ave but for m wn l c r , ic c nn ngr y com

o plete e diti n . ’ Lo E v s MEINIE .

are anatomy, that you not to know how many fingers

how o u and toes you have, nor y can grasp and walk e m with th m and, si ilarly, when you look at a bird,

I wish yo u to know ho w many claws and wing

an d how . feathers it has, it grips and flies with them e Of the bones, in ither, I shall show you little and o f I n the muscles, nothing but what can be seen the n r livi g creatu e, nor, often, even so much .

. n ow o u 77 And accordingly, when I show y this sketch of my favourite Holbein, and tell you that it is entirely disgraceful he shou ld n ot know what a ’ — I wing was , better, don t mean that it is disgraceful

u o f he sho ld not know the anatomy it, but that I I TH E . . SWALLOW he shou ld never have looked at it t o see how the

feathers lie .

N o l o b ut w Ho bein paints men glori usly, never o o u l oks at birds ; Gibbons, the w odc tter, carves

’ rd but — o f t wo fault s bi s, can t men ; the the last is / the worst ; but the right is in looking at the whole o f u d u e u nat re in comparison , and with niversal

n o u ca d r and tenderness.

FI 10 . G.

f 8 . o u n o t su er 7 At the whole nat re, I say, at p natu re- at what yo u suppose t o be above the visible

u o u n o t nature about yo . If y are inclined to look

o f Go d o u at the wings birds, which has given y

see o u t o t o handle and to , much less are y con ’ 8 0 LovE s MEINIE .

o r o f o f template, draw imaginations , the wings ’ K o wn s o u a . angel , which y c n t see now your world

FI 1 1 . G.

fi rst — n ot denying any other, but being quite sure that the place in which y ou are now p ut is the 11 8 1 . THE SWALLOW . place with which you are now concerned ; and that it will be wiser in you to think the gods themselves

f o o r may appear in the orm of a d ve, a swallow,

r than that, by false theft from the fo rm o f dove o

s o f swallow, you can repre ent the aspect gods .

. o f u o 79 One sweet instance s ch simple concepti n ,

o f u in the end the Odyssey, must surely rec r to you r

w o ur u o f - minds in connection ith s bject to day, bu t y o u may not have noticed the recu rrent manner

o n u in which Homer insists the tho ght . When

Ulysses first bends and strings his bow, the vibra

“ o f o f tion the chord is shrill, like the note a

u ' swallow . A p oor and nwarlike simile, it seems

But in the next book, when Ulysses stands with his bow u u lifted, and Telemach s has bro ght the lances ,

m t o and laid the at his feet, and Athena comes his

d — o u si e to encourage him , do y recollect the gist

“ ” “ o f ? Y ou u her speech fo ght, she says, nine ’ o f fo r years for the sake Helen, and another s

u — n ow u ho se , ret rned , after all those wanderings,

u o wn o for u and under yo r r of, it, and its treas res , ? ” fl will you not fight, then And she herself ies

u u - i n we or m o p to the ho se roof, and thence, f f

we s wallow u o f fo r , g ides the arrows vengeance the

h o f violation o f t e sanctities home .

To - fo r 8 . . 0 , , fi day then I believe verily the rst time,

I have been able to put before you some means o f ’ 8 2 LOVE S MEIN IE . guidance to understand the beauty o f the bird

h o u u u i own ho ses, and whic lives w th y in . yo r w u o u s hich p rifies for y , from its insect pe tilence,

u m the air that you breathe . Th s the sweet do estic

fo r m en u u thing has done, , at least these fo r tho sand

e m o f y ars . She has been their co panion, not the

o b ut o f h me merely, the hearth , and the threshold ;

' o n l e n d eare d a u o companion y by dep rt re, and sh wing

- better her loving kindness by her faithfu l retu rn .

o f s he o u s Typ e sometimes the stranger, has s ftened t o o f th e u n hospitality ; typ e always s pplia t, she has

enchanted us to mercy ; and in her feeble p resence,

o r o f has the cowardice, the wrath, sacrilege changed

fi d lit ies of u r m e . H o u u into the sanct ary erald of s mer, she glances through o ur days o f gladness n u mberer o f o ur u u s o u r years, she wo ld teach to apply hearts

— we to wisdom and yet, so little have regarded her,

t o that this very day, scarcely able gather from all I can find told o f her enough to explain so mu ch as

u o f o u f the nfolding her wings, I can tell y nothing o her life— nothing of her j ou rneying :I cannot learn how o f she builds, nor how she chooses the place her

d h ow o f t wan ering, nor she traces the p ath her re urn .

Remaining th u s blind and careless to the tru e mini s

o f who m Go d has tries the humble creature \ really

u s we o ur u sent to serve , in p ride, thinking o rselves

u u o f surro nded by the purs ivants the sky, can yet

‘ N am es of di e bi rds n ol iced in Mef ollowing Leczur e, according ’ ‘ to M A ulnor s stem w d e r e ren ce to zlze a es o e s , i f e p g f y ‘ Me text an d Me App en dix i n wnic/i zlze r eader will fi n d ‘ zlzeir m ore m elodious scien fific n om enclai ure

P PAGE I M er ula Fon tiu rn Tor ren t Ouzel e t A e d x 180 . . T x g? pp n i f A lle retto A nz na a . Lil Ou zel 1 80 I I . g y p y 99

e M acu lata S tte le r A . All r etta o d Al et 102 182 I L g . p g ‘ Alle reti a Si ella s I B . ri 10 18 I . g . 3 3 ' e r t a l All g e l M uu a . 104 1 84

I Tre ida Sta n a ru ni . Li ttle Gr eoe 10 I I . p g 7 1 85 ‘ ‘ I V Til a n i a A r ctica . A r ezi o Fa r . i y 1 19 186

V B . Tita n ia [ n eon stan s C/za n e u I . g f l Fairy 1 24 188

V Rallus A uaticus . Waf r . q e Rail 1 28 1 88

' l A ua c Wa t P ul a q ti a . er ff en 13 3 190 LECTURE I I I .

T H E DAB C H IC K S .

BELI EVE that somewhere I have already

observed , but permit myself, for immediate

use, to repeat what I cannot but think the sagacious

— observation , that the arrangement of any sort of

sa animals must be, to y the least, imperfect , if it

be founded only on the characters of their feet .

And , of all creatures , one would think birds were

those which , continually dispensing with the use of

their feet, would require for their classification some

attention also to be p aid to their bodies and wings,

- sa . s not to y their heads and tails Nevertheles , the ornithological arrangement at present in vogue

may suffice for most sc ientific persons ; but in

grouping birds, so that the groups may be under

stood and remembered by children , I must try to e make them a little more gen rally descriptive .

8 2 n o f is . In talki g parrots , for instance, it only a small part of the creature’s nature which is told ‘ ’ ‘ ’ S can so r by its scientific name of , or Climber .

’ That it only clutches with its claws, an d does not 8 ’ 8 6 LOVE S MEINIE . snatch or strike with them — that it helps itself

' ab out with its beak, on branches , or bars of cage, in an absurd manner, as if p artly imagining itself

hung up in a larder, are by no means the most

it s vital matters about the bird . Whereas, that

s o beak is always extremely short, and is bent down

u ro ndly that the angriest parrot cannot peck, but

bi te ca n only , if you give it a chance ; that it bite, pinch , or otherwise apply the mechanism of a pair of

- ff nut crackers from the back of its head , with e ect ; that it has a little black tongue capable of much talk ; above all, that it is mostly gay in plumage,

u t w — often to v lgari y, and al ays to pertness all these characters should surely be represented to the app re h en sive n o j uvenile mind , in sum ; and t merely the ’ bird s climbing qualities .

8 . 3 Again , that the race of birds called in Latin ‘ ’ do Rasores , in the search for their food, usually

scratch , and kick out their legs behind , living for

the most part in gravelly or littery places, of which the hidden treasures are only to be discovered in that manner, seems to me no supremely interesting ’ ni an ner custom of the animal s life, but only a of

its household, or threshold , economy. But that the

is tribe, on the whole, unambitiously domestic , and never p redatory ; that they fly little and low, eat

much of what they can pick up without trouble A 8 111 . . THE D BCHICKS 7

and are i nei nseloes always excellent eating — yet so exemplary in their own domestic cares and courtesies that one is ashamed to eat them except in eggs that their plumage is for the most part warm brown ,

— delicately and even bewitchingly spotty and that ,

S i in the goodliest pecies , the spots become var egated ,

and inlaid as in a Byzantine pavement, deepening to

imperial purple and azure, and lightening into lustre

— of innumerable eyes all this, I hold , very clearly and p ositively, should be explained to children as

r a pa t of science, quite as exact, and infinitely more

gracious, than that which reckons up the whole tribe of loving and luminous creatures under the feebly ’ descriptive term of Scratchers . I will venture therefore to recommend my younger readers , in classing birds , to think of them literally

— t o from top to toe from toe to p I should say,

foot, body, and head , studying, with the body, the wings that bear it ; and with the head, what brains it can bring to bear on practical matters, and what

. o u sense on sentimental But indeed, primarily, y have to consider whether the bird altogether may t a , not be little more than fat cheerful li tle stomach, in a spotted waistcoat, and with legs to it . That is the main definition of a great many birds— meant

— a , , , to eat ll day chiefly grubs or grain not at all,

unl ess under wintry and calamitous conditions, meant ’ 8 8 LOVE S MEINIE .

to fast painfully, or be in concern about their food .

l — d a Fault ess in digestion dinner lasting all y long,

with the delight o f soci al intercourse— various chirp

and chatter. Flying or fluttering in a practical , not

: c . stately, manner hopping and reeping intelligently

Sociable to man extremely, building and nestling

— and rustling about him , prying and speculating,

his curiously watchful of him at work, if likely to l be profitab e to themselves, or even sometimes in

ho w . mere pitying sympathy, and wonder such a

’le hin W ingless and beakless creature c an do a ny t g .

8 it s 4 . The balance of this kind of bird on legs

is a very important p art of its — diagnosis (we must have a fine word n o w and then ") Its action on the

a n wing, is mere flutter or flirt, in d out of the

hedge , or over it ; but its manner of perch , or ‘ ’ n- é literally bie s ance, is admirable matter of interest . So also in the birds which are on the water what

these are on land ; picking up anything anywhere ;

t faf a , lazy and fortun te, mos ly themselves , floating, ‘ — 2neir a daintiest darlings balance on the w ter, also , ’ l and under it, in ducking, a most essentia part of

their business and being . e 8 . t o 5 Th n , directly opposed these, in both kinds ,

‘ birds which you have the must fast long, and fly

’ om a e a ad se of ds so t o h C p r P r B r , ( ng t e young Roc age i i , p

an d see ose of e tu e for otes k cl l c r n on that boo .

’ 9 0 LovE s MEINIE .

m insect or grain with good in it, gives the much of their bright and often arch expression ; while the

flattened iris under the beetling brow of the falcons,

— n n i , proj ecti g, not n frow , but as roof to shade the

r — eye from inte fering skylight, gives them their

apparently threatening and ominous gaze ; the iris

itself often wide and pale, showing as a lurid saturnine ring under the shadow of the brow plumes .

8 : r 7 . I sp eak of things that are to be ve y

— o ff assuredly they will be done , some day not far ,

c by painters edu ated as gentlemen , in the strictest

— sense working for love and truth , and not for lust and gold . Much has already been done by good and earnest draughtsmen , who yet had not received the

’ n higher painter s educatio , which would have enabled them to see the bird in the greater lights and laws

of its form . It is only here and there, by Durer,

Holbein , Carpaccio, or other such men , that we get a livm g bird rightly drawn but we may be greatly a thankful for the unspared labour, and ttentive skill , with which many illustrations of ornithology have been produced within the last seventy or eighty

years . Far beyond rivalship among them , stands ’ d ual ra h Le Vaillant s monograph , or g p , on the Birds

u of Paradise, and Jays its plates , exq isitely engraved;

’ The Macaw in Sir Jo shua s po rtrait of the Countess of D erby is a

r a d am g n ex ple . 111 TH E . 1 . DABCHICKS 9 a and coloured with unwearying care by h nd , are

- insuperable in plume texture, hue , and action , f sp oiled in ef ect , unhappily, by the vulgar boughs for sustentation . Next , ranks the recently issued history of the birds o f Lombardy ; the litho graphs

u by Herr Oscar Dressler, s perb , but the colouring

- : - u (chromo lithotint) p oor and then , the self ta ght ,

o f but in some qualities greatly to be respected , art d d Mr. Goul . Of which, I woul fain have spoken with gratitude and admirati o n in his lifetime ; had not I

u known , that the q alified expressions necessary for

u true estimate of his p blished plates , would have m d caused him ore p ain , than any general praise coul

crit i have counteracted or soothed . Without special cism , and rej oicing in all the pleasure which any

m a of my young p upils y take in his drawing, s only guarding them , once for all , again t the error

— I of supposing it exemplary as art, use his plates henceforward for general reference ; finding also

’ that, following Mr . Gould s practical and natural

o u arrangement , I can at nce throw together in gro ps , e B easily compreh nsible by ritish children , all they are ever likely to see o f British o r Britain - visitant : birds which I find fall, with frank casting, into

these following divisions, not in any important

r matters va ying from the usual ones , and therefore ff less o ensive, I hope, to the normal zoologist than . ’ 2 LovE 9 s MEINIE .

my heresies in botany ; while yet they enable me to makewhat I have to say about our native birds

k more simply presentable to young m in d sf

8 8 . . 1 The HAWKS come first, of course, massed ‘ ’ t under the single Latin term Falco, and next hem ,

— un m is 2. The OWLS second , also of course

. two takeable, these tribes , in all types of form , and ways of living.

3 s . The SWALLOWS I put next these, being con n e ct ed with the owls by the Goatsucker, and with the falcons by their flight .

4 . The PIES next , whose name has a curious double meaning, derived partly from the notion of their being painted or speckled birds ; and partly

m fro their being, beyond all others , p ecking, or

- ud - . the p ickaxe beaked , birds They incl e, therefore

w ' Cro s , Jays, and Woodpeckers ; historically and practically a most important order of creatures to man . Next which , I take the great company of the smaller birds of the dry land , under these following more arbitrary heads . 5 . The SONGSTERS . The Thrush , Lark , Black N bird, and ightingale, and one or two choristers more . These are connected with the pheasants in

es their speckledness , and with the pi in pecking ;

See the otes on ass at o the e d to the u n cl ific i n, in App n ix vol m e ; ‘ u s ed to ether with the e a e s m u ta eous t t s um p bli h , g Pr f c , i l n ly wi h hi n ber .

’ 9 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

— that they best show what I m ean by broad

— principles of grouping, and that they are the ff e ective clasp , if not centre , of all the series since they are the tru e link between land and water birds . We will look at one or two of their leading

' sa in m o re examples , before y g of their position in

- bird society. I shall give for the heading of each a rticle, the name which I propose for the bird in ’ — English children s schools D a m e- schools if possible ;

a perfectly simple Latin one, and a familiar English o n e . The varieties of existing nomenclature, will

so as be given in the Appendix, far I think them necessary to be known or remembered .

I .

A F N TI M N - Z O U . E MERUL TORRE T OU L .

8 9 . There are very few good popular words which

“ do not unite two or more ideas, being founded on one, and catching up others as they go along. Thus ‘ ’ ‘ ’ - I find dabchick , to be a corruption of dip chick,

n ot meaning birds that only dip , and do dive, or

: it s even duck, for any length of time but in broader and customary use it takes up the idea of dabbling ‘ - - and , as a class name , stands for dabbling chick,

meaning a bird of small size, that neither wades, nor dives , nor runs, nor swims , nor flies , in a consistent

cl manner ; but humorously dabbles, or ips , or flutters , III . THE DABCHICKS . 9 5

or trips , or plashes, or paddles, and is always doing all manner of odd and delightful things :being also

- very good humoured , and in consequence, though

’< lum n ess graceful , inclined to p p f and though it

never waddles, sometimes , for a minute or two , and now and then looks more like a ball

than a bird . For the most part, being clever,

as they are also brave, and would be as tame any

other chickens, if we would let them . They are

mostly shore birds, living at the edge of irregularly

t broken water, either streams or sea ; and the rep e

s en tative of the whole group with which we will ’ is - begin the mysterious little water ouzel , or oiselle, ’ ‘ ’ ’ - — Buffon s properly the water blackbird , merle d eau

— is an d o etic for ouzel the classic , p word for the “ ” - cock s o blackbird , or ouzel , black of hue, in Mid ’ ’ it summer Night s Dream . Johnson gives from the ‘ ’ Saxon osle ; but in Chaucer it mu st be under

stood simply as the feminine o f oiseau . The bird

in question might however, be more properly called , ‘ ’ as Bewick calls it, water pyot, or water magpie,

i s — its for only t back and wings are black, head t brown , and breast snow whi e . w 0 . n o 9 And I must, once for all, get over a ’ diffi culty in the descrip tion of birds costume . I

- f as can always describe the neck eathers , such , ‘ r em o o t . O in French, b np in ’ 9 6 LOVE S MEINIE .

n when birds have any neck to speak of ; but whe ,

i as the maj or ty of dabchicks, they have not any, ’ instead of talking of throat - feathers and stomach ’ u feathers, which both seem to me rather gly words , ‘ ’ I shall call the breast feathers the chemisette, and ‘ ’ all below them the bodice . w u I am now able, itho t incivility, to distinguish

t w - the o families of Water ouzel . Both have white

but - chemisettes, the common water ouzel (Cinclus aquaticus of Gould) has a white bodice, and the

black f a , other one, the bird being called there ore, ‘ ’ ’ r - in ugly G eek, Melanogaster, black stomached .

I S — The black bodice Norwegian fashion the white,

English and I find that in Switzerland there is an

- w : intermediate Robin ouzel , ith a red bodice but the ornithologists are at variance as to his specific t existence . The chemise te is always white .

I O l 9 . However dressed , and wherever born , the uze

- is essentially a mountain torrent bird, and , Bewick says, may be seen perched on a stone in the midst of a

di i n stream , in a continual pp g motion , or short curtsey

t it s of en repeated, while it is watching for food , which

— consists of small fishes and insects , water insects ,

is sa that to y, caught mostly at the bottom many ’ i s legged and shrimpy things , accord n g to Gould plate. The popular tradition that it can walk under the water has been denied by scientific people ; but

’ 9 8 LOVE S MEINIE .

‘ ’ stint in a charming man ner ; but none of them s i n x s g e cept the oiselle . ingularly, the black - Very

e to 1 . bodic d one , seems like liv ng near manufactories ” N w . The specimen in the or ich Museum , says Mr

“ Gould, is the one mentioned by Mr . Lubbock, in ‘ ’ 1 8 as at two 4 5 , lately shot Hellesdon Mills ; and others are stated by the same author to have been seen at different times by trus tworthy observers f at Marling ord and Saxthorpe . Of more recent occurrence I may mention a male in my own collection , which was brought to me in the flesh ,

N 1 8 w s having been shot in ovember, 5 5 , hil t hovering over the river between the foundry

is bridge and the ferry . I t not a little singular that a bird so accustomed to the clear running u streams of the north, and the q iet haunts of the ’

f as ~ s silent angler, should be ound, in this ca e , w w almost ithin the alls of the city, sporting over a river turbid and discoloured from the neighbouring “ f factories , and with the busy noise of tra fic on every side . About the same time that this bird appeared n ear the city, three others were observed on more

than one occasion on the Earlham river, by Mr .

o f who is Fountaine, Easton , well acquainted with our British birds ; but these suddenly disappeared ,

and were not seen again .

An d n all will disappear, and never be seen agai , 111 A . THE D BCHICKS . 9 9

ill- but in skeleton , covered with camphorated rags of skin , under the present scientific dispensation ; unless some kind - hearted northern squire Will let them have the run and the dip of his brooks and teach the village children to let them alone if they

v like to wade down to the illage .

- as I am sixty two, and have passed much time

a out of those years by torrent sides s most people .

- But I have never seen a water ouzel alive .

I I .

- A TTA YM PH ZEA. Z LLEGRE N LILY OU EL .

s o 9 3 . We have got far, by help of our first example,

as in the etymology of our entire class, to rest in ‘ ’ the easily memorable root dab , short for dabble, as n the foundation of comprehensive omenclature . " ‘ ’ But the earlier (if not Aryan ) root dip, must be

u taken good heed to, also , because, as we f rther u st dy the customs of aquatic chickens, we shall find

' that they really mass themselves under the three ’ great heads of Duckers, birds that duck their heads ’ s only, and stick up their tail in the air Dippers , birds that take real dips under, but not far down , in shallow water mostly, for things at the bottom , ’ wa or else to get out of harm s y, staying down

as n as about lo g we could ourselves, if we were ‘ ’ — l used to it and Divers, who plunge ike stones ’ LOVE S MEINIE .

— can when they choose, go nobody knows how deep in a — as the deep se , and swim under the water j ust

f as n ot . com ortably as upon it, and fast, if faster

But although this is clearly the practical and ’ poetical division , we can t make it a scientific one ; for the dippers and dabblers are s o like each other that we must take them together ; and so also the duckers and divers are inseparable in some of their

:s o forms that , for convenience of classing, we must keep to the still m o re general rank I have given

u — dabchick, duck , and g ll , the last being essentially

s ea- li ves the aerial bird , which on the wing. ‘ ’ 9 4 . But there is yet one more mode of motion to be thought of, in the class we are now examining .

as Several of them ought really to be described, not \ t r i chicks as can dipchicks, but as p ; being, as far I make out , little in the habit of going under water ; but much in the habit o f walking or tripping daintily

as a over it, on such raft or float they m y find constructed for them by water- lily or other buoyant

’ “ ” ' Of as leaves . these come and trip it you come

— m is chicks , ( y emendation of Milton surely more reasonable than the emendations of commentators as us se a body, for we do not , any of , like to e o ur “ ” a s o — t a fi mistresses trip it they g ) here re, I nd , ‘ ’ . e pictured by Mr Gould, three sp cies, called by him , Porzana Minuta, Olivaceous Crake ; Porzana

’ LOVE S MEINIE .

l an d two little ones shall be, one, the Tiny A legret, the other the Starry Allegret (Allegretta Minuta,

and Allegretta St ellaris) ; all the three varieties being generally thought of by the plain English

s n ame I have given at the head of this ection , ‘ ’ - 1 I Lily Ouzel (see, in 7 , page , the explanation

it s . of my system of dual epithet, and limitations)

- I note, briefly, what may be properly considered

distinctive in the three kinds .

A T N YM P H ZEA AT . I I . . ALLEGRE TA , MACUL A

SPOTTED ALLEGRET .

‘ ’ 6 - — 9 . Water Crake or Skitty of Bewick , French , ‘ ’ ’ we Poule d eau Marouette, ( may perhaps take

as fo r Marouette euphonious Maculata , but I wish

w W — so i I kne hat it meant) though l ght of foot ,

flies heavily ; and , when compelled to take wing, me’rely passes over the tops of the reeds to some

place of security a short distance o ff. (Gould ) “ The body is in all these Rails comp ressed

— he (Yarrell , means laterally thin) , which enables them to make their way through dense herbage ’ with facility . I can t find anything clear about its ‘ ’ c country, ex ept that it occasionally visits Sweden

has in summer, and Smyrna in winter, and that it e — been found in Corfu , Sicily, Cr te, Whittlesea

— Y arle — in Mere, and y Fen marshes always, I I I THE . DABCHICKS . 1 0 3 wherever it is ; (nothing said of its behaviour on ice,) and not generally found farther north than

d — - Cumberlan . Its food is rather nasty water slugs — l ' , i a a and the like but it is tse f as fat as n ortol n , “ almost melts in the (Gould ) I t s o wn “ colour, brown spotted with white ; the spots on w the wing coverts surrounded with black, hich gives ” them a studded or pearly appearance . (Bewick, ‘ ’ he means by pearly, rounded or proj ecting . )

' I t s o f Hence my specific epithet . young are the “ n liveliest black, little balls of black glisteni g ” down , beautifully put by Mr . Gould among the C white water rowfoot (Ranunculus Aquatilis) , look “ ing like little ducklings in mourning . Its nest is made of rushes and other buoyant materials matted

so together, as to float on , and rise or fall with , the ebbing or flowing of the water like a boat ; and to prevent its being carried away, it is moored or ” k fastened to a reed . (Bewic )

TT N YM PH ZEA TELLARI I I B . S S . . ALLEGRE A ,

STARRY ALLEGRET .

’ S t ellaris Te m m in ck — I 9 7 . Called by . do not wh find y, but it is by much the brightest in colour o f the three, and may be thought of as the star of

them . Gould says it is the least, also, and calls ‘ ’ ’ it the Pigmy ; but we can t keep that name ’ 1 04 LOVE S MEINIE .

‘ ’ ’ without confusing it with the Minuta . Baillon s ? Crake, seems the most commonly accepted title , as the worst possible . Both this , and the more ’ quietly toned Tiny, in Mr . Gould s delightful plates of them , have softly brown backs, exquisitely ermined by black marking s at the root of each

feather, following into series of small waves, like

‘ little breakers on sand . They have lovely grey S chemisettes , triped grey bodices , and green bills and feet ; a little orange stain at the root of the green bill , and the bright red iris of the eye have wonderful effect i n war ming the colour of thewhole bird and

has tellaris with beautiful fancy Mr . Gould put the S among yellow water - lilies to se t o ff its grey ; and a

w s ots an d yello butterfly with blue and red p k black n speckled wings (Papilio Machao ) , to harmonize

as both . It is j ust if the flower were gradually turning into the bird . Examples of the Starry

na ve — i n Allegret been obtained the British Islands .

n It is said to be numerous , unobtained , in I dia , N China, j apan , Persia, Greece, orth Africa, Italy , ’ and France . I have never heard of anybody s seeing it , however .

I I C . A A N YM PHZEA U A . . LLEGRETT , MIN T

TINY ALLEGRET . ’ ‘ ’— ’ 8 . Yarrell s 9 Tiny Allegret, Little Crake ,

see is (but names in Appendix) . It a little more

’ ‘ 1 0 6 LovE s MEINIE .

‘ but the bird is always liable to have its n est o ver

f - flowed by floods . The ull grown bird is dressed

in an exquisite perfection of barred bodice, spotted

chemisette, and waved feathers edged with grey on

the back .

e c 9 9 . The reader will pleas recolle t these three

Allegrets as the second group of the dab or dabble

- chicks ; and , while the water ouzel is a mountain e and torrent bird , these inhabit xclusively flat lands

and calm water, belonging properly to temperate, i c n lining to warm , climates , and able to gladden

for u s— as their name now given implies— many

scenes and places otherwise little enlivened ; and

the us to make very gnats of them profitable to ,

u n an t ul were we wise eno gh . Dai ty d deligh f

— r creatures in all their ways , vo ce only dubitable , but I hope not a shriek or a squeak — and there

seems to be no reason whatever why half our fen lands should not be turned into beds of white

- water lilies and golden ducks, with j etty ducklings ,

ale o f to the great comfort English souls .

’ ‘ ’ C om pare B s op Stanley s account o f the larger tro cal acana i h pi J , “ . x1 . On e s e es i s o te tam ed an d om its e a p 3 p ci f n , fr b ing resolute

e em to ds o f e the a a h u n y bir pr y, inh bit nts o f t e co ntries wh ere it i s ” “ ou d b e t e ? ea it as a ote to for t e o s f n (which h y ) r r pr c r h ir f wl , as it \ n ot on eed s w t t em but a om a ly f , cc n es them in to the eld s an d i h h p i fi , brings them back in the evening . A 1 o III THE D BCHICKS . 7

I I I .

TA N S G ARUM . L TREPIDA ITTLE GREBE .

— - - I 0 0 . The two birds Torrent ouzel , and Lily ouzel ,

— . b which we have been just descri ing, agree, you will observe, in delicate and singular use of their feet in the water ; the torrent - ouzel holding itself mysteriously

- z l at the bottom and the lily ou el , ess mysteriously ,

as o n fo r t but skilfully, the top ( I forgot to no e,

- respecting this raft walking, that the bird , however w f light, must be al ays care ul not to tread on the

as edges of leaves , but in the middle , or, rather,

nearly as may be where they are se t on the stalk it would go in at once if it trod on the edges) . But both the birds have the foot which is really

- characteristic of land , not water birds ; and especially

of those land species that run well . Of the real

hO in action of the toes, either in running, or pp g, nothing is told us by the anatomists— (compare

o lecture on Robin , but I hope bef re long to

get at some of the facts respecting the greater

an d flexibility of the gripping climbing feet, and

elasticity of running ones ; and to d raw up something like a properly graduated scale of the length of the

' toes i n proportion to that of the body .

— And , for one question, relative to this the

o f s ta n di n — is balance a bird g , not gripping to be

o - thought f. Taking a typical profile of bird form ’ LOVE S MEINIE .

its in abstract, with beak; belly, and foot, horizontal

(Fig. the security of the standing, (supposing

“ ’ atomic weight equal through the bird s body, and

will o f is as the , in the ancle, iron ,) the same

of an inverted cone, between the dotted lines from the extremities of the foot to those of the body ; t and , of course, with a li tle grip

FI G 12 of the foot or hind claw, the

can n bird be safe in almost any positio it likes .

N as evertheless, when the feet are small in pro

FI FI G 1 6 G 1 4 . . . 3 . 3

’ as - portion the Torrent ouzel s, I greatly doubt the possibility of such a balance as Bewick has given ’ 1 a - it (Fig. 3 ) . Gould s of the black bodiced

1 was . e Ouzel (Fig 3 ) is , I imagine , Bewick i u nfallible in pl me texture , and expression either of

n the features of a imals , or of any action that had

’ M 1 1 o LOVE S EINIE .

habit of life, the larger grebes and phalaropes are l entire y aquatic and marine, I shall take out of

them into my class of dabchicks, only those which

i n . are literally dabblers habit, and chickens in size

c o m And of the Grebes, therefore, only the one ‘ ’ m o nl y known as the Dabchick, the Little Grebe, ‘ ’ M in ut us a . Colymbus ( Minute Diver) , of Linn eus

r s A summa y word or two, first, re pecting the Grebe f amily, will be useful . e f 1 0 2 . S Grebe, properly, I uppose, Gr be, rom the

is French , not in Johnson , nor do any of my books

as tell me what it means . I retain it,however, being

l t wo . short, not ug y, and well established in languages

ré m n We may think of it as formed from g , and eani g

’ ‘ ’ whole c lass a nice bird . The specialities of the , easily remembered , are, first, that they have chesnut ‘ leaf feet ; secondly, that their legs are serrated behind with a d ouble ro w of notches

' the have u h t thirdly, that y no tails ; fo rthly, t a they

r a , , fi h ve most of them very ne and ve y comic crests , tufts, tip pets , and other variously applied appendages

s o to their heads and chins , that some are called ’ ’ ’ t i eted s o crested , some eared , some pp , and on ; but the least of them , our proper Dabchick, displays

have t he no absurdity of this sort, and I t less scruple in distinguishing it from the others . I find , further, ’ s in Stanley s classes, the Grebe placed among the I I I THE A I I I . D BCHICKS .

s - hort winged birds, and made to include all the divers ; but he does not s ay how short their wings are ; and his grouping them with guillemots and

uffi n s is p entirely absurd , all their ways and looks ,

can sa and abodes, being those of ducks . We y no

more of them as a family, accordingly, until we know what a duck is — and I go on to the little

it s . pet of them , whose ways are more entirely own t 1 0 . a c 3 Strangely, the most interesting fact (if f it

be) that it builds a floating nest, gains scarcely more

than chance notice from it s historians . Here is Mr . Gould’s account of it :“ The materials composing this raft or nest are weeds and aquatic plants carefully heaped together in a rounded form ; it is

is s o very large at the base, and constantly added

sub to , that a considerable portion of it becomes

merged ; at the same time it is sufficiently buoyant

to admit of its saucer- like hollow t op being always

six above the surface . In this wet depression five or

s . egg are laid The bird , always most alert, is still

s o n o w o f more , and scarcely ever admits a near

o f n e st o m akin examination the g, or of a view of the

u eggs . In favourable sit ations , however, and with

the aid of a telescope, the process may be watched

an d it is not a little interesting to notice with what remarkable quickness the dabchick scratches the

she weeds over her eggs with her feet, when per ’ r 2 1 LOVE S MEINIE .

c eives so as n herself observed , not to lead eve to

the s u spicion that any were deposited on the ill

shapen floating mass . This work of an instant

displays as much skill in deception as can well be ” i i mag ned .

i t is 1 0 . s w 4 It still left to question , first, ha meant by a wet depression — does the bird ac tually s it s ? in the water, and are the egg under it and, if

is wa ? not, how the ter kept out Secondly, is the ? floating nest anchored , and how Looking to other

r fin d ornithologists for solution of these particula s , I nobody else say anything about a floating n est at ; all Bewick describes it as being of a large size , and composed of a very great quantity of grass and water plants, at least a foot in thickness, and so placed in the water that the female hatches her eggs amidst the continual wet i n which they were

r flat first laid . Yarrell says only that it is a la ge n est made of aquatic plants ; while Morris finally

’ complicates the whole business by telling us that the nest is placed often as much as twenty or thirty yards from the water, that it is composed of short

o s pieces of r ot , reeds , rushes, and flags , and that

”6 d r when y the whole naturally becomes very brittle .

I ea om a i e d ose statem e ts h r, fr fr n in wh n I have absolute confidence, that he has found the eggs of the water -hen laid o n a dead sycam ore

ea the s d e of a s a ow st eam on k l f by i h ll r , e of the m any bro o s near

d e Uxbri g .

’ 1 1 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

is o f or Isis, but an humble and unskilful imitator f w the dabchick . In moving straight or ard (under

its as water the wings are used to aid progress ,

has if in the air, and in turning it an easy gliding

as o n motion , feet and wings being used , occasi

requires , sometimes on one side and sometimes on

f as the other . It walks but indif erently, may readily be imagined from the position of the

so r . is t legs , ve y far back It pleasant to wa ch the

parent bird feeding her young :down she dives with w a quick turn, and presently rises again ith , five

s ix m w fish times out of , a inno , or other little ,

glittering like silver in her bill . The young rush

has c towards the spot where the mother ome up,

but she does not drop the fish into the water for " them to receive until she has well shaken it about

s o m a and killed it, that it y not escape, when for

its the last time in own element . I have seen a

i s young one which had just seized , out of t turn I

have no doubt, the captured prey, chased away by

her, and pursued in apparent anger, as if for punish

ment, the following one being willingly given the ” next fish without any demur.

1 0 7 . Mr . Gould seems to think that the dabchick

fish likes insects and spawn better than fish, or at least more prudently dines upon them That fish are taken we have positive evidence from examples 111 1 1 . THE DABCHICKS . 5 having been repeatedly picked up dead by the

- fishermen of the Thames, with a bull head or ’ t h miller s humb in their throats , and by whic they

had evidently been choked in the act of swallowing

is is them . That it especially fond of insects

ca shown by the great activity it displays, when in p

t i - vit flies . y, in capturing house and other diptera

Those who have visited Pari s will probably have seen the grebes in the window of the restaurateur

’

in the Rue de Rivoli . For years have a p air of

these birds been living, apparently in the greatest

enj oyment, within the glass window, attracting the

- b admiration of all the passers y. The extreme agility

n with which they sailed round their little priso , or

scrambled over the half- submerged piece o f rock for a

a . fly, w s very remarkable That no bird can be more

” easily kept in a state of confinement is certain .

1 it s c 0 8 . This question about food is closely o n

as n e cted with that of its diving . So far I under

M r . M , i stand orris t dives only when disturbed ,

— and to escape, remaining under water, however, if m need be, an almost incredible time, and swim ing

. H underneath it to great distances ere we have,

u if we would only think of it, the same q estion as

a - kee s down that about the w ter ouzel , how it p and

we must n ow note a few general points about diving

birds altogether. ’ 1 1 6 . LOVE S MEINIE .

It is easy to understan d how the properly ‘s o

ca c alled . divers n plunge with impetus to great

co n depths , or keep themselves at the bottom by t in ued strokes of the webbed feet ; but neither how the ouzel walks at the bottom , if it be specifically

can m lighter than the water, nor how a bird swi horizontally under the surface ; at least it is not enough explained that the action must be always that of oblique diving, the bird regulating the stroke according to the upward pressure of the water at different depths .

1 0 9 . But there are many other points needing

is o n elucidation . It said (and beautifully insisted , by Michelet,) that great spaces in the bones of birds that pass most of their lives in flight are filled with air :presumably the bones of the divers

is co n are made comparatively solid , or it even c eivable— if conceptions o r su ppositions were of

- k a , any use, that the deep divers may ta e in w ter to help themselves to sink . The enormous depths r at which they have been caught, acco ding to report , f t cannot be reached by any mere ef or of strength , if the body remained as buoyant as it evidently is on the surface . The strength of the wing must,

u however, be enormo s , for the great northern

“ diver is described as swimming under water as it were with the velocity of an arrow in the air ”

’ 1 1 8 LOVE S MEINIE

with . We shall understand it perhaps a little better

i n it s after tracing, a future talk, the history of relations among the smaller seagulls ; meantime, in

quitting the little dainty creature, I must plead for a d aintier Latin name than it has now No one seems to have the least idea what that ’ Co l m bns be means and y , diver, must kept for the

- se a great Northern Diver and his deep relatives , far

- removed from our little living ripple line of the pools . ’ I can t think of any o n e pretty enough but fo r the ‘ ’ present Trepida may serve ; and perhaps be applied , not improperly, to all the Grebes, with reference to their subtle and instant escap e from “ any sudden danger. (See Stanley, p . I t requires all the address of a keen sport sman to get w ithin shot , and when he does, the bird may still “ ' o f be too shrewd for him . I fired at the distance thirty yards ; my gun went quick as lightning, but the grebe went quicker, and scrambling over, out of

sight, came up again in a few seconds perfectly

” unhurt.

I think , therefore, that unless I receive some

St a n arum better suggestion , Trepida g may be the sufficiently intelligible Latin re - naming of our l easily start ed favourite . 111. TH E C 1 1 DAB HICKS . 9

IV . A T T TITANI ARC ICA . ARC IC FAIRY .

I I I . I must first get quit of the confusion of

aeu names for this bird . Linn s , in the Fauna ‘ ” . 6 Lo bat a but Suecica , p 4 , calls it Tringa , after

‘ ” wards Northern Tringa ; and his editor, Gmelin , ‘ ’ Dark Tringa . Other people agree to call it a ‘ ’ ‘ ’ p halarope, but some of them northern phalarope, ‘ ’ ‘ ’ some, the dark phalarope ; some, the ashy phalarope, ‘ ’ some, the disposed to be ashy phalarope ; some, the ’ - William s s M . red necked phalarope ; and some, r ‘ ’ phalarope ; finally, Cuvier calls it a Lobipes , and Mr . ’ - Few Gould, in English, red necked phalarope . ‘ ”6 p eople are likely to know what Phalarope means, and I believe nobody knows what Tringa means en and as, also, nobody ever sees it, the little bird b i g w obliged to live in Orkney, Greenland , Nor ay, and ’ Lapland, out of human creatures way, I shall

myself call it the Arctic Fairy . It would come south

[ l ut o f et b . if we would it, course Mr Bond says , The first specimen I ever had was shot by a friend

1 8 2 of mine in September, 4 , near Southend , Essex , where he saw the phalarope swimming on the water,

like a little duck, about a mile from land ; not

was knowing what it , he shot it , and kindly brought

‘ ’ ‘ ’ The te m a e i s s o t fo r us ous an d halero om r in l p h r p , (p p , fr

- a e a es e oot o s . ph l r , fring Fring f (M rri ) ’ L vE o s MEINIE.

was u it to me . Another shot while r nning between the metals of the Great Eastern Railway, near the

1 8 2 Stratford station, early in June, 5 ; and on the N orfolk coast, four others have been killed during ’ the last fifteen years ; and the birds visits , thus,

f can satis actorily, put a stop to . I therefore study ’ it only in Mr . Gould s drawing, on consulting which ,

sea — I find the bird to be simply a dabchick, brown

of stripes on the back , and all but the webs the feet

its is a little finer, and in habits it more like the

- o uzel . acco rdin t . Lily , g to the following repor of Mr “ : - is St . John The red necked phalarope certainly

the most beautiful little wader of my acquaintance .

There were a pair of them , male and female, feeding

was near the loch, in a little pool which covered f N l with weeds of dif erent kinds . othing cou d be more graceful than the movements of these two

little birds, as they swam about in search of insects ,

et c tae r a n li htl on tae br a d eaves . Sometimes y g y o l

o tae water - lil wean ser ved tnein or a ra t f y f f , and

entirely kept them out of the water . Though not

web - exactly footed , the phalarope swims with the The greatest ease . attachment of these two birds to each other seemed very great whenever in their search for food they wandered s o far apart as to be

the hidden by intervening weeds, the male bird i a ki stopped feed ng suddenly, nd , loo ng round,

’ LOVE S MEINIE .

f lily leaves like a airy, swims like a duck, and roves

‘ a sea- havm m like gull , g been seen sixty miles fro : land and , finally, though living chiefly in Lapland

has and Iceland , and other such northern countries it been seen serenely swimming and catching flies in

m an the hot water of the geysers, in which a could

his not bear hand . And no less harmoniously than in report of the ff extreme tameness , grace, and a ectionateness of this bird do sportsmen agree also in the treatment and appreciation of these qualities . Thus says Mr .

- :“ Salmon Although we shot two pairs , those that were swimming about did not take the least notice of the report of the gun , and they seemed to be

“ much attached to each other ; for when one of

flew the them to a short distance, other directly followed ; and while I held a wounded female in my hand , its mate came and fluttered before my face . (Compare the scene between Irene and ‘ Hector, at page 3 9 3 of the May number of Aunt ’ M r Judy s And , again , says . Wolley

“ is The bird extremely tame, swimming about my

I ndia - rubber boat so near that I could almost catch

i a , a t in my hand ; I h ve seen it eve‘n when f r from n its nest, struck at many times with a oar before it ” it s i fl ew away . In domest c habits also the creature

as m as it s s is seems exe plary , in ocial habits, it frank ; 111 1 2 . THE DABCHICKS . 3 fo r a a h on the ppro ch of danger to er nestlings, the hen uses all the careful subtleties of the most

n “ cun ing land birds, spreading her wings, and

fo r t he counterfeiting lameness, purpose of deluding the intruder and after leading the enemy from her

she young, takes wing and flies to a great height , at the same time displaying a peculiar action of the w ings ; then descending with great velocity, and

making simultaneously a noise with her wings . On h er cr return to her young, she uses a particular y for the purpose of gathering them together . As soon as she has collected them , she covers them with her ” wings, like the domestic hen .

. ’ I cannot quite make out the limits o f ‘the fairy s migrations ; but it is said by Morris to occur in

France, Holland , Germany, Italy, and Switzerland . I ‘ find that o n e was what sportsmen call procured

in near York, full summer dress and another killed w at Rottingdean , s imming in a pond in the middle

of the village, in . the company of some ducks . At

Scarborough , Louth , and Shoreham , it has also been ‘ ’ captured or shot, and has been found building : nests in Sutherland and , on the whole, it seems

is - that here a sort of petrel partridge, and duckling

- dove , and diving lark, with every possible grace and

r can faculty that bi d have, in body and soul ready ,

at least in summer, to swim on our village ponds , or , ’ 1 2 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

our w l wait at rail ay stations, and make the wi d north eastern coasts of S co tlan d gay with it s dancing flocks upon the foam ; were it not that the idle cockneys,

- and pot headed squires fresh out of Parliament, stand as t h it were on guard all round e island, spluttering

- k w small shot at it, stri ing at it ith oars, cutting it open to find how many eggs there are inside, and , in

t he r fine, sending it for refuge into hot wate of t Hecla, and any manner of stormy solitude hat it e an it s still find for itself and amber nestlings . I

n or have never seen one, I suppose ever shall see, but hear of some of my friends sunning themselves at

midnight about the North Cape , of whom , if any o ne w A a ill bring me a couple of rctic fairies in basket, ’ ’ I? think I can pledge o ur own Squire s and Squire s ’ ’ lia d s e y faith , for the pair s getting som peace, if

as - they choose to take it, and many water lily

’ le can aves as they trip upon , on the tarns of Monk C oniston .

I V . B . A A I N CON STAN S . CHAN GEFUL TIT NI FAIRY .

- — P n l aro as Fa liear ia s . Coot like P nalar o e G al a p ( p o d . )

i an d I think the ep thet changeful prettier, ,

“ u w a i s ntil we kno what coot like, more descriptive, ‘ ’ than coot -l ike ; the bird having red plumage in w summer, and grey in winter, hile the coot is always i black . It s a little less pretty and less amiable

’ I 2 6 LovE s MEINIE .

— It m ay be thought that I have forced and not

— m n 1 2 b f fallen into y umber , y packing the aculties of . sight and hearing into bye corners . But the ’ expression of a bird s head depends on the relation

k as its of eye to bea , the getting of food depends on their practical alliance of power ; and the e question; for instance, whether p acocks and parrots

m e e have musical ears, seems to not prop rly debateable unless with due respect to the quality of

is h . o w their voices It curious, considering much , o n e wa y or another, we are amused or pleased by the chatter and song of birds, that you will scarcely

find in any ornithic manual more than a sentence,

so if much , about their hearing ; and I have not ’ myself, at this moment, the least idea where a ’ " s ee 1 1 nightingale s ears are But Appendix , p . 9 . ’

c I retain , therefore, my dodecahedri form of catechism as sufficiently clear ; and without binding in St myself to follow the order of it rictness, if

i d cer there be mot ve for iscursory remark, it will t ain ly prevent my leaving any bird insufficiently distinguished , and enable me to arrange the collected

statements about it in the most easily compared order . We will try it at once on this second variety of

n n the Titania, of which I find othi g of much n n i terest in my books, and have othing discursive m sa yself to y . 111 A 1 2 . THE D BCHICKS . 7

1 . . o ff Country Arctic mostly ; seen Greenland , in lat . swimming among icebergs three or four

. as miles from shore Abundant in Siberia, and far

as s south the Caspian . Migratory in Europe a far as w Italy, yet al ays rare . (Do a few only, more intelligently curious than the rest, or for the sake ? of their health, travel )

- 2. m Food . S all thin skinned crustacea, and

- aquatic surface insects .

- 3 . s ea . Form and flight Stout, for a bird and ’ o s wi m they don t care to fly, preferring t out of

. 8 m danger Body 7 to inches long ; wings , fro

— sa carpal joint to end , y 5 . These quarters of inches, are absurd pretences to generalize what varies

8 1 0 in every bird . inches long, by across the wings open , is near enough . In future, the brief

8 x 1 0 x notification , 5 7, or the like, will enough ’ express a bird s inches, unless it possess decorative appendage of tail , which must be noted separately.

- 4 . . Foot Chesnut leaved in front toes , the lobes slightly serrated on the edges . Hind toe without

. membrane . , Colour of foot, always black

Ho w Long, slender, straight . ( long ? ’ Drawn as about a fifth of the bird s length— say an inch , or a little over . ) Upper mandible slightly th curved down at the point . In Titania arctica, e beak is longer and more slender. ’ I 2 L v 8 o E s MEINIE .

6 cr . Voice . A sharp , short y, not conceived by

t o me enough spell any likeness of it .

. l 7 . Temper Gent e, passing into stupid , (it

m see s to me) ; one, in meditative travel , lets itself

his be knocked down by a gardener with spade .

8 . N . est Little said of it, the bird breeding chiefly in the North . Among marshes, it is of b ? weeds and grass ; but among ice ergs , of what

9 - . w . Eggs Pear shape narro ends together in

s ne t ; never more than four.

10. Brood . No account of.

11. Feathers . Mostly grey, passing into brown

in summer, varied with white on margin . Reddish — bo dice v chesnut or bay well oiled or varnished . 12 . Uses . Fortunately, at present , unknown .

V .

’ - A A . A A RALLUS Q U TICUS W TER R IL.

we o t o ur Thus far , have g for representatives of . — dabchick group , eight species of little birds namely, two - - an d Torrent ouzels, three Lily ouzels , one Grebe,

we . e two Titanias And these associate, observ , not for any specialty of feature in them, but for common

a so char cter, habit, and size ; that, if perchance a ‘ x he s a - d i a a , e a chil play ng by ny stre m or on t s nds, perceives a companionable bird dabbling in an

C m equally hildish and pleasant anner, he may not

’ I 0 3 LOVE S MEINIE .

well to put with our eight dabchicks, though they

c - u are mu h larger than any of them , partly beca se

of their disposition , and partly because of their

— - - ; plumage, the water rail , and water hen . Modern

e is science, with instinctiv horror of all that pretty

see r to , or easy to emember, entirely rejects the

as plumage, any element or noticeable condition of

‘ bird - kinds ; nor have I ever yet - tried to make it

one myself ; yet “ there are certain qualities of

fluffi n ess downiness in ducks, in owls, spottiness in

thrushes, patchiness in pies, bronzed or rusty lustre

i n cocks, and pearly iridescence in doves, which I believe may be aptly brought into connection with other defining characters ; and when we find an entirely similar disposition of plumage, and

b n o t nearly the same form , in two irds , I do think that were difference in size should far separate them .

- Bewick, accordingly, calls the water rail the ’ - Brook ouzel , and puts it between the little crake and the water - ouzel ; but he does n ot say a word ‘ its — of living by brooks, only in low wet places .

ff - Bu on , however, takes it with the land rail ; Gould and Yarrell put it between the little crake and ’ - water hen . Gould s description of it i s by no means

- he fi a i is a as clear to me rst s ys t ; in ction , much “ like a rat as a bird then that it “bounds like 111 A 1 1 . THE D BCHICKS . 3

a an d a b ll , (before the nose of the spaniel) ; lastly, “ la tli - in the next sentence, speaks of it as this like ” " can bird It is as large as a bantam, but run ,

like the Allegretta, on floating leaves ; itself, weigh ing about four ounces and a half (Bewick) , and rarely uses the wing, flying very slowly . I imagine the ‘ ’ - lath like must mean , like the more frequent epithet ‘ ’ ’ is compressed , that the bird s body vertically thin, s o t r as to go easily between close reeds . We will y

our twelve questi ons again .

r 1. Country . Equally numerous in eve y part of

Europe, in Africa, India, China, and Japan ; yet

hardly anybody seems to have seen it . Living, how ” u ever, near the perennial fo ntains (wherever those may be — it sounds like the garden of Eden ")

during the greater part of the winter, the birds p ass

n Malta in spri g and autumn , and have been seen

fifty leagues at sea off the coast of Portugal (Buffon) ;

is but where coming from , or going to, not told .

Tunis is the most southerly place named by Yarrell .

2. Food . Anything small enough to be swallowed ,

- that lives in mud or water.

3 . Form and flight . I am puzzled , as aforesaid ,

,

it s . between likeness to a ball, and a lath Flies i u l t s . heavily and nwil ingly, hanging legs down

- flexile 4 . Foot . Long toed and . ch 5 . Beak . Sharp and strong, some in and a ’ 1 2 3 LOVE S MEINIE .

- half long, showing distinctly the scimitar curve of ’ 3 a gull s, near the point . 6 . Voice . No account of.

7 . th6u h Temper. Q uite easily tameable, g

sh naturally y . Feeds out of the hand in a day

or two , if fed regularly in confinement . “ 8 . . Nest Slight , of leaves and strips of flags “ s (Gould) of sedge and gras , rarely found, i (Yarrell) . S ze not told .

- 9 . . " Eggs Eight or nine cream white, with rosy yolk ll rather larger than a

10 a . Brood . Velvet bl ck, with white bills ; hunting with the utmost activity from the minute

they are hatched .

11. Feathers . Brown on the back , a beautiful ’ ash Wi warm grey on the breast, and under the ngs

’ transverse stripes of very dark grey and white .

The disposition of pattern is almost exactly the same as in the Allegretta . 1 2. Uses . By many thought delicious eating.

is (Bewick) The fact , or seems to me, that this ‘ entire grou p of m arsh birds i s m eant to become to us the domestic poultry of marshy land ; and I imagine that by proper irrigation and care, many

a d n districts of otherwise useless bog n sa d , might be made more profitable to us than many fishing o gr unds .

’ I 3 4 LOVE S MEINIE . in Siberia and New Z ealan d ; in Senegal and

a I n J maica ; Scotland , Switzerland , and Prussia ; in

’ z C Corfu , Crete, and Trebi ond in anada , and at the

o f Cape . I find no account its migrations , and one “ would think that a bird which usually flies dip, dip ,

its n dipping with toes , and leaving a track alo g the ‘ ’ water like that of a stone at ducks and drakes

e ‘ (Yarrell) , would not willingly adv nture itself on the

I t n Atlantic . must have a kind of huma facility in

adapting itself to climate, as it has human domes t icit o f y of temper, with curious fineness sagacity

and sympathies in taste . A family of them , petted

' ’ by a clergyman s wife , were constantly adding materials to their nest , and made real havoc in the

fl o wer- — fo r u garden , tho gh straw and leaves are their

‘ chief ingredients, they seem to have an eye for

has n d beauty, and the old hen been see surroun ed ” with a brilliant wreath of scarlet anemones . Thus

o o f is Bishop Stanley, whose acc unt the bird full of

ae - interesting particulars . This sthetic water hen , d f with her husban , lived at Cheadle, in Staf ordshire ,

“ in the rectory moat, for several seasons, always ” however leaving it in the spring, (for Scotland , P : supposably ) being constantly fed , the pair became

- quite tame, built their nest in a thorn bush covered

“ with ivy which had ’ fallen into the water ; and when

the young are a few days old , the old ones bring 111 T : I . HE DABCHICKS 3 5

e u - r w r th m p close to the drawing oom window, he e e they are regularly fed with wh at and , as the lady

of the house pays them the greatest attention , they have learned to look up to her as their natural

r s o o n e p rotectress and f iend so much , that bird in

was t p articular, which much persecuted by the res ,

t o fo r would , when attacked , fly her refuge ; and

o o c whenever she calls , the wh le fl k , as tame as

- o w u barn door f ls, q it the water, and assemble r t o u o f n N ound her, the n mber seventee . ( ovember,

They have also made other friends in the d o gs

t o belonging the family, app roaching them without

o n t fear, though hurrying off with great alarm he

r o appearance of a st ange d g .

o The p sition of the water, together with the f familiarity of these birds, has af orded many interest

r ing particulars respecting thei habits .

They have three broods in a seaso n — the first early in Ap ril ; and they begin to lay again when

o l e the first hatch is abo ut a fortnight d . Th y lay

— eight or nine eggs, and sit about three weeks , the cock alternately with the hen . The nest in the thorn - bush is placed usu ally so high above the

C surface of the water, they cannot limb into it again ;

but, as a substitute, within an hour after they leave t a the nes , the cock bird builds a larger nd more ’ 1 3 6 LOVE S MEINIE .

’ roomy nest for them , with sedges, at the water s

w can . edge, hich they enter or retire from at a p leasure . For about month they are fed by the n old birds , but soon become very active in taki g

- flies and water insects . Immediately on the second

hatch coming out, the young ones of the first hatch assist the old ones in feeding and hovering over

n a them , leadi g them out in det ched parties, and e making additional nests for them , similar to th ir

o wn . , on the brink of the moat But it is not only in their instinctive attachments

' and habits that they meri t notice the following anecdote p roves that they are gifted with a sense of observation approaching to something very like

u faculties reasoning .

“ ’ ff At a gentleman s house in Sta ordshire, the pheasants are fed out of o n e of those boxes

2 8 o f described in page 7 , the lid which rises with the pressure of the pheasant Standing on the rail in

- . a b front of the box A w ter hen o serving this , went and stood upon the rail as soon as the pheasant had qu itted it ; but the weight of the

fi a o f x bird being insuf cient to r ise the lid the bo ,

- at so as to enable it to get the corn , the water

hen kept j umping on the rail to xgive addit l on al : i impetus to its weight this part ally succeeded , but

n o t t o the to the satisfac i n of sagacious bird . Accord

’ I 8 V 3 LO E S MEINIE .

initial letters (groat) round a pentagon set on its

— so . base, putting the Ouzel at the top angle,

O uzel .

Allegret .

Titan ia . Greb e. ‘

the Then, the Ouzels pass up into Blackbirds, Rails

Alle re t s to the left into Woodcocks , the g to the right

u into Plovers, the Grebes , down left, into D cks, and

’

w . there s the Titanias , do n right , into Gulls And a

ou f\ bit of pentagonal Darwinism for y , i you like it,

and learn it, which will be really good for something

in the end , or the five ends .

And for the bliss of classification pure, with no

n ends of any sort or any number, referri g my reader

o to the works of ornith logists in general , and for what small portion of them he may afterwards care

to consult, to my Appendix , I will end this lecture,

and this volume, with the refreshment for us of a

piece of perfect English and exquisite wit, falling — rd into verse, the Chorus of the Bi s, in Mr . Court ’ — a hope s Paradise of them , book lovely, and often

faultless, in most of its execution, but little skilled 111 A . 1 . THE D BCHICKS 3 9

u be or attractive in plan , and too thoughtf l to understood without such notes as a good author will not write on his own work ; partly because

‘ he has not time, and partly because he always ’ h his feels t at if people won t look for meaning,

they should not be told it . My own special a function , on the contrary, is, and lways has been , ‘ ’ n l that of the I terpreter on y, in the Pilgrim s

ourtho e Progress and I trust that Mr . C p will

therefore forgive my arrangi ng his long cadence

of continuous line s o as to come symmetrically

n fo r into my own page, (thus also enforci g, the

inattentive, the rhymes which he is too easily

o n proud to insist ,) and my division of the whole

chorus into equal strophe and antistrophe . of six

lines each, in which, counting from the last line of

can the stanza, the reader easily catch the word to

which my note refers .

WE wish to declare,

How the birds of the air, s All high institution designed ,

An d , holding in awe

Art, Science, and Law,

Delivered the same to mankind .

To begin with of old

Man went naked , and cold, ’ 1 o 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

d f Whenever it pelte or roze,

Till we showed him how feathers

Were proof against weathers,

li e of . With that, bethought him hose

A n d was n next, it plai ,

“ n That he, in the rai ,

s i Wa forced to s t dripping and blind ,

While the Reed - warbler swung

In a nest, with her young

Deep sheltered , and warm , from the wind .

So our homes in the boughs

Made ni ne think of the House

in a ELTED sa d o f nail n ot a . e t aked ess Line 9 . P , i , r in F l by n n , m m ore severe m anner than ere rain . ‘ ’ EA ER o at — a an d o d : the ar m ou r 1 TH S i . e. a t e e s 1 . W , , w h r h il c l

, ee of the feathers against hail ; the d own of them against cold . S ’ - a ou of eat e m a a s of ésole a . . . t the cc nt F h r il in L w F , ch p vi , p 77, wi h

n t ates an d u e 1 . first a d fif h pl , Fig r 5

LI N D B the eat of the a his a e . I n nail t e e i s 1 5 . B . y b ing r in in f c , h r

n d u s the a b e o t a so for the ole real danger a br i ing, if h il w r h c lling , wh

a it be a a so o t a a bo dy ; while in r in, if r in l w r h c lling r in , the great

n d h a plague is the beating a d renching in t e f ce . ‘ ’ sed o sit u 1 6 WU N G . o t e o s e . The um a . S Opp in pr vi lin h n

eatu e t ou i t sate stead on t s u s akea e ea t had cr r , h gh y hi n h bl r h , n o

us o its ead . T e d t at ed n ho e ver h h bir , h liv o the trem blin gest an d

eakest of e d t s had her n est on it w b n ing hing , , in which even her

te te de ood e e dee s e te ed an d a m om the wi n d infini ly n r br w r p h l r w r , fr . I t is m oss e to fin d a o e e sta e o f u e oet a a t t es s i p ibl l v li r in nc p r p ic l n i h i .

- 2 . OU S a a t t e h 0 H E . Ag in n i h tic to t e p erfect word H om e in the ‘ - e e o e . ouse is e a t an d o a wa to a m lin b f r A h x c ly, nly, h lf y ho e .

’ I 4 2 Lo vE s MEINIE .

’ The O wl s dark retreats Showed sages the sweets

o r Of brooding, to spin, unravel ’ Fine webs in one s brain , Philosophical— vain

— The Swallows, the pleasures of travel .

Who chirped in such strain

Of Greece, Italy, Spain ,

And m e n Egypt, that , when they heard ,

Were mad to fly forth , N From their nests in the orth,

— And follow the tail of the Bird .

h N r u n a e . t es s an d a a s s t e u a ee 40 TO S P I , o r v l Syn h i n ly i , in v lg r Gr k

s a . l ng 5

h a e of M AD . om a e o of t e s nis d a . 46. C p r Byr n Engli h in y A p rc l starin g b oobies who go about gapin g an d wishing to be at once cheap

an d m a e t . m an i s a oo n ow who t a e s a e or ta gnific n A f l , r v l in Fr nc I ly,

f et es be s e t om a . I n two o r t ee ea s till that trib e o wr ch w p h e ag in hr y r ,

u be o e an d the o t e t b e oom an d a ee the first r sh will v r, C n in n will r y gr ” a v l . . . For f th s of se e tee e . e o sket es o e bl (Lif , ii , p ch Engli h v n n

ea s ate at the sam e s ots e e Al an d te a e see ou y r l r, p (W ng rn p In rl ch n) , , if y ’ can see an a u or ate at e e a To ffer s u , in y libr ry, pblic priv , G n v , p Exc r s o s d a s les A es ouz em e Treiziem e an d uato z em e n n lp , D , Q r i i , i

Journée .

TH E I . M r . ourth e d n d d ta ze his 48 . TA L C op o es ot con escen to i lici pun ; but a swallow - tailed an d add er - ton gued pun like this m ust be ’ o m M r a a e o f th o of u a aused u . o a T e . u s e w to p p n C p r M rr y l T n L cc ,

' be see et ee the a a of on e t a an d the d e a tu e of the t n b w n rriv l r in p r r nex ,

— ot t e e but t e ve u es an d a at ed a — m o t of n hing h r w l ch rch c h r l, s ly the t e t to t tee t u n h hir n h cent ry . 111. A THE D BCHICKS . 1 4 3

‘

, i Besides t is true,

To oa r wisdom is due The knowledge of Sciences all

And chiefly, those rare Metaphysics of Air M M en eteorology call ,

And men , in their words , Acknowledge the Birds ’ Erudition in weather and star ’ For they say, Twill be dry w The Swallo is high,

Or, Rain , for the Chough is afar .

’Twas the Rooks who taught men Vast pamphlets to pen

Upon social compact and law,

And Parliaments hold ,

. I did n o f 60 . FA R ot k o t s eat e s n or I su o A n w w r n , se did hi h ig pp , ’ ’ he uke of am to s kee e who s ot the ast a of t D H il n p r, h l p ir Choughs on ’

a 1 86 . ds of the est o f ot a d . Arr n in 3 Bir W Sc l n , p I trust the cl m ate has wept for t em certa nly our C on ston clouds grow eav er i h i i h i , in these last years .

I AL t su the ds t ee s OC . a es but he 63 . S Righ ly ng by Bir in hr yll bl ; t

f the e ous e o a te t o a but n ot easa t lagging o pr vi lin (pr b bly in n i n l , pl n , )

k e t ess o f t s on e a tt e d a e ous for a um s m a es th ligh n hi li l ng r cl y read er. ‘ ‘ ’ The i - al of social d oes n ot fill the line as t wo full short syllables ‘ ’ ‘ he e ed ord s ou d a e ee tte on n ot u o else t pr c ing w h l h v b n wri n , p n .

s a es t e ust tak e the t m e of two am s b The five yll bl , righ ly giv n, j i i b ; ut ‘ ’ ud e e ou to a e t the on of u o an d ak there ar e read ers r n gh cc n p n, t e ‘ ’ e social for two sh ort syllabl s . ‘ OLD o t for to o d — but it is a e t ous o st u t o 64 . H . Sh r h l lic n i c n r c i n , ’ 1 44 LOVE S MEINIE .

A s themselves did of old , ’ ’

Caw . Exclaiming Hear, Hear, for , Caw

A n d whence arose Love ?

ask Go, of the Dove,

Or behold how the Titmouse, unresting,

Still early an d late

Si his m at e Ever ngs by ,

To lighten her labours of nesting .

T/zei r a bonds never g ll ,

Though the leaves shoot , and fall ,

the e And seasons roll round in th ir course ,

For their marriage, each year, Grows more lovely and dear

s And they know not decree of Divorce .

That these things are truth

We have learned from our youth ,

‘ ’ ‘ ’ i so a so e t e t em se es for e t em se es . The sta za s l , in n x lin , h lv th y h lv n on the o e the o st the oem its o an esse t a o e e wh l w r in p , ir ny d n i l f rc b ing m u d m m ed o s u e e ess o an d e e s t st a e con ch i by b c r xpr i n , v n ligh ly gg ring tin uit o f u The ooks m a e o e su osed to a e y tho ght . R y b pr p rly pp h v

d n tau t m en t o d s ute but n ot t o te . The a o tea es u gh i p , wri Sw ll w ch b il i g ,

te a an d the Owl m o te a but the ook d oes n ot tea li r lly, ping, li r lly ; R ch ‘ ’ ’ am etee t a An d th of old is edu da t for m e s p phl ring li er lly . e r n n , rhy

sake s e ooks o d a am ts n ow as m u as e e t e did . , inc R h l p rli en ch v r h y

8 . ACH YEAR I dou the a t an d too sad sus e t t at ds 7 E . bt f c ly p c h bir take d f e e t m a to a e to ask at t s t m e f i f r n tes. What a question h v hi i o d ay an d year

’ I 6 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

vo w Of their souls , and resolved with a

’

No custom to change,

n For a new, or a stra ge,

102 w a n o . Have ttained unto Paradise,

I could willingly enlarge on these last two stanzas, but think my duty will be better done to the poet

if I quote, for conclusion , two lighter pieces of his verse, which will require no comment , and are closer

u first — o f to our present p rpose . The , the lament r — the French Cook in pu gatory, has, for once, a note ’ by the author, giving M . Soyer s authority for the

items of the great dish , symbol of philanthropy , served at York during the great commemorative ” co m m e m o banquet after the first exhibition . The rative soul of the tormented Chefm always makin g

— a dish like it, of which nobody ever eats sings thus

Do you vee sh

— d eesh ? To hear before you taste, of de hundred guinea

n o t Has it been sung by every knife and fork , ‘’ ’ ’ e x rava an ce L t g culinaire a l Ald e rm an , at York ?

V se e n ce y, ven I came here, eighteen Octobers ,

dee sh fo r Pre en ce I dis was making your Royal ,

’ the o t o f a d s sou n or how the ds ea by w r h bir l, bir l rned it . The read er

i s e t t o d s e an d o e t f m — l f i c rn, c ll c or hi self with patience such as n ot on e

a t ousa d n ow-a- d a s ossesses the o os t o et in h n y p , pp i i n b ween the fount ” of our sou e 8 an d oun ta of oso l (lin 3 ) f in phil phy . 11 1 1 . THE DABCHICKS . 4 7

le evin h Ven half de g world , cooking all de ot ers ,

Swore an oath hereafter, to be men and brothers .

vo od s All de leetle Songsters in de dat build , H opped into the kitchen asking to be kill’d

who All in de open furrows find de seeds,

Or de mountain berries , all de farmyard breeds,

H a- I d ee sh sha e n s see de knife, vile de it p , ‘ o f - - w Vith les petits noix, four and t enty capons,

Dere vere dindons, fatted poulets, fowls in plenty,

o f o f Five times nine partridges, and pheasants twenty ;

Ten grouse, that should have had as many covers,

dis d e esh re e t All in one , with six p y plovers,

Forty woodcocks, plump , and heavy in the scales,

- - Pigeons dree good dozens, six and dirty quails,

rt ulan s fo i O , ma , and a century of snipes,

But de p re etie st of dem all was twice tree dozen pipes

Of de melodious larks , vich each did clap the ving,

eshed " And ve de pie vas open , dat dey all might sing

f o f There are stif bits prosody in these verses,

— bu t one or two, indeed , quite unmanageable, we must remember that French metre will n o t read

into ours . The last piece I will give flows very

of differently. It is in express imitation Scott but no nobler model could be chosen ; and ho w much better for minor poets sometimes to write in ’ another s manner, than always to imitate their own . ’ 1 8 4 LOVE S MEINIE .

This chant is s ung by the soul of the Francesca ’ of the Bird - ordained purgatory ; whose torment i s to be dressed only in falling snow, each flake

as — striking cold to her heart it falls , but such

v lace in estiture costing, not a cruel price per yard in souls of women , nor a mortal price in souls of birds ‘ ’ Her snow—mantled shadow sings

" so Alas, my heart No grief great As thinking on a happy state

In misery. Ah , dear is power " ‘ To female hearts Oh , blissful hour

a , i i When Bl nche and Flavia j o ned w th me,

- Tri feminine Directory, Dispensed in latitudes below The laws of flounce and furbelow

And held on bird and beast debate , What lives should die to serve our state "

a . i We ch nged our statutes w th the moon ,

And oft in January or June, d At deep midnight, we woul prescribe

Some furry kind , or feathered tribe . f At morn , we sent the mandate orth ;

Then rose the hunters of the North And all the trappers of the West

Bowed at our feminine behest.

’ 1 5 0 LOVE S MEINIE .

of for the behoof the Bishop of Manchester, on this ‘ ’ very subject, ( Contemporary Review, Feb . ’ f- - . H art wi s and some of Mr g hal sandy, half soppy, ff political opinions , are o ered to the consideration o f the British workman in the last extant number ‘ ’ o f Fors . Touching eider ducks , I find in his

fifth chapter— o n Iceland — he quotes the following S account, by Mr . Shepherd , of the hore of the island ‘ ’ of I safj ard arj up — a word which seems to contain

' in itself an introduction to Icelandic literatu re

“ an d The ducks their nests were everywhere, in

a manner that was quite alarming . Great brown

s a t ducks upon their nests in masses , and at every

u step started p from under our feet . It was with difficulty that we avoided treading on. some of -

- the nests . The island being but three quarters of

was a mile in width , the opposite shore soon

u o f reached . On the coast was a wall b ilt large

- e u stones, just above the high water lev l , abo t three feet in height, and of considerable thickness . At o the bottom , on both sides of it, alternate st nes

so as had been left out, to form a series of square compartments for the ducks to make their nests

. was in Almost every compartment occupied and , as we walked along the shore, a long line of ducks

flew out one after another. The surface of the a a i wi k w ter lso was perfectly wh te th dra es , who 111. T 1 I HE DABCHICKS . 5 welcomed their brown wives with loud and clamorous cooing . When we arrived at the farm

we C d house, were or ially welcomed by its mistress . v The house itself was a great mar el . The earthen wall that surrou nded it and the window embrasures

were occupied by ducks . On the ground , the house

- was fringed with ducks . On the turf slopes of the roof we could see ducks ; and a duck sat in the scraper. “ A grassy bank close by had been cut into

- square patches like a chess board , (a square of turf of about eighteen inches being removed , and a hollow made,) and all were filled with ducks . A

t so all windmill was infes ed , and were the out

, a . houses , mounds, rocks nd crevices The ducks

so were everywhere . Many of them were tame that we could stroke them on their nests ; and the good lady told us that there was scarcely a duck on the island which would not allow her to ” take its eggs withou t flight or fear .

as But upon the back of the canvas, it were,

ict ureA— o n Of this pleasant p the back of the leaf, 6 — in his book, p . 5 , this description being given — . 6 6 H , in p , Doctor artwig tells us in his own

— peculiar soppy and sandy way half tearful , half

— D r asd ust we it y y, (or may not say sounds more

J - Icelan dic— D ry as these less cheerful ’ I 5 2 LovE s MEINIE .

“ as facts . The eiderdown is easily collected , the

birds arequite tame . The female having laid five ‘ - or six pale greenish olive eggs , in a nest thickly lined with her beautiful down , the collectors , after

n it s carefully removing the bird , rob the est of contents ; after which they replace her. She then begins to lay afresh— though this time only three or four eggsfi - and again has rec0urse to the down

e risecut o rs on her body . But her greedy p once

o he r ne more rifle her nest, and blige to li it for the third time . Now, however, her own stock of

she down is exhausted , and with a plaintive voice

who calls her mate to her assistance, willingly plucks the soft feathers from his breast to Supply d I the eficiency . f the cruel robbery\ be again

w s r repeated , which in former times a f equently the

- case, the poor eider duck abandons the spot, never

n ew she to return , and seeks for a home where may

indulge her maternal instinct u ndisturbed by the ” o f avarice man . t Now, as I have above told you , these two s ate

m ents are given on the two sides of the same leaf ; ‘ m a o f and the reader must make what he y them .

o wn Setting the best of my poor wits at them , it

seems to me that the m erciless abstnactio n of down

is indeed the usual custom of the inhabitants an d ‘ ’ o visitors ; but that the g od lady, referred to by

’ E 1 5 4 Lov s MEINIE .

m e as too clearly and sadly come for , I have

as said in my preface, to knit up , as far I may, the loose threads and straws of my ravelled life’s

work, I reprint in this place the second paragraph of the chapter o n Vital Beauty in the second ‘ ’ volume of Modern Painters, premising, however, some fe w necessary words . I intended never to have reprinted the second ‘ ’ is v olume of Modern Painters ; first, because it f written in af ected imitation of Hooker, and not in my own proper style ; and , secondly, yet chiefly, because I did not think the analytic study of which it mainly consists , in the least likely to be intelligible l to the general student, or, therefore, profitab e to ‘ ’ him . But I find now that the general student has

ab sses n o t of a plunged himself into such y f nalytic ,

disso l tiC — — or but of y , dialytic even diarrhoeic

lies , belonging to the sooty and sensual elements

his of London and Paris life , that, however im

o r i perfectly dimly done, the higher analys s of that early work of mine ought at least to be put within

—

a , , his re ch ; and the fact somehow enforced upon him ,

li e that there were people before lived , who knew ‘ ’ ae m what sthesis eant, though they did not think

’ ’ ' that pigs fl avo urin g of pigs - wash was ennobled by giving it that Greek name : and that there were also people before his time who knew what vital 111. A 1 THE D BCHICKS . 5 5

beauty meant, though they did not seek it either

- in the model room , or the Parc aux Cerfs .

Therefore, I will republish the analytic parts

’ of the second vol ume of Modern Painters as they were written , but with perhaps an additional note

a or two, and the omission of the pass ges concerning

Evangelical or other religious matters , in which I have found out my mistakes .

m To be able to hunt for these istakes, and crow

i i l over them , in the or g nal volume, wil always give

its so that volume orthodox value in sale catalogues, that I shall swindle nobody who has already bought

it s m the book by bringing down price upon the .

Nor will the new edition be a cheap one— even if

is n o I ever get it out, which by means certain .

is Here, however, at once, the paragraph above referred to , quite one of the most important in the

book . The reader should know, preparatorily, that " ’ i c ll ae h is . s n ow a ed st es for what , always used , ‘ o — and still use, the English w rd sensation as, for

o r o f instance, the sensation of cold heat, and their

— o f an d differences the flavour of mutton and beef, ’ ’ — o f thei r differences a peacock s and a lark s cry,

f — o f and their dif erences the redness in a blush , and

ff — o f in rouge, and their di erences the whiteness in

- f a a , snow, and in lmond p ste and their dif erences of the blackness and brightness of night and day, or ’ I 5 6 LovE s MEINIE .

ff e t c. et c . of smoke and gaslight, and their di erences, ,

for w But the Perception of Beauty, I al ays used ’ Plato s word , which is the proper word in Greek, and the only possible s i ng le word that can be used in any other language by any man who understands

u — the s bj ect , the Germans only having ‘ ’ a term parallel to it, Anschauung, assumed to be

2 2 e its equivalent in p . of the old dition of Modern ’ but I S Painters , which not its real equivalent, for

Anschauung does not (I believe) i nclude bodily ’ s o is sensation , whereas Plato s Theoria does , far as ’ necessary ; and mine somewhat more than Plato s .

“ s a so The first perfection , (then I y, in this long “ in coming paragraph) of the theoretic faculty, is the kindness and unselfish fulness of heart, which receives the utmost amount of pleasure from the happiness of all things . Of which in high degree the heart of man is incapable ; neither what intense enjoyment the ' an gels may have in all that they se e

of things that move and live, and in the part they ’ i take in the shedding of God s k ndness upon them , c an we know or conceive :only in proportion as to we draw near God , and are made in measure

can like unto Him , we increase this our possession of charity, of which the entire essence is in God only . But even the ordinary exercise of this faculty implies a condition of the whole moral being in

’ 1 5 8 LOVE S MEINIE . s o that I know not of anything more destructive

the ' whole s a of theoretic faculty, not to y of the

Christian character and human intellect, than those accursed sports , in which man makes of himself,

a cat, tiger, serpent, ch etodon , and alligator in one

his and gathers into one continuance of cruelty, for n amusement, all the devices that brutes spari gly,

use and at intervals, against each other for their

” necessities .

So much I had perceived , and said , you observe ,

good reader, concerning S . Francis of Assisi, and

was five - - his sermons , when I only and twenty,

n - little thinki g at that day how, Evangelical bred

as a e I was, I should ever come to write l cture

’ for the first School of Art in Oq rd i n the ’ " i i e — Sacristan s cell at Ass s , or ev r among such ’ poor treasures as I have of friends reliquaries— I ‘ should fondly keep a little pinch of his cloak .

C a is Rough lo k of hair, it , still at Assisi

concerning which , and the general use of camels

hair, or sackcloth , or briars and thorns , in the

- middle ages, together with seal skins (not ’ and rams skins dyed gules, by the Jews, and the

as use o f . Crusaders , compared with the the two ‘ u f rs, Ermine and Vair, and their final result in

‘ ’ ‘ ’ See ad e o e t a a v 16 m a o s Ari n Fl r n in , ch p . . , 4 ; co p re F r ,

ette V L r . 111 THE 1 . DABCHICKS . 5 9

’ the operations of the Hudson s Bay Company, much w casual notice will be found in my former ork .

A n d n ow is sum so as can , this the of it all , far I shortly write it . There is no possibility of explaining the system

con ueri n l of life in this world , on any principle of q g y

Divine benevolence . That piece of bold impiety,

s o w if it be , I have al ays asserted in my well

d — I o n co n consi ered books, considering it, the t rar sa y , the only really pious thing to y, namely,

is that the world under a curse, which we may, if

as we will , gradually remove, by doing we are bid , and believing what we are told ; and when we are told , for instance, in the best book we have about

“ our own old history, that unto Adam also, and to d id his wife, the Lord God make coats of skins ,

as and clothed them , we are to accept it the best thing to be done under the circumstances , and to

can wear, if we get them , wolf skin , or cow skin , or ’ ’ beaver s , or ermine s ; but not therefore to confuse ’ God with the Hudson s Bay Company, nor to hunt

fo r o f i foxes their brushes instead the r skins, or thin k the s / poor little black tail of a Siberian weasel on a j udge’s shoulders may constitute him therefore

o r a Minos in matters of retributive j ustice, an

E ac s can u in distributive, who at once determine ho w m any m illions a Railroad Company are to ’ 1 60 LovE s MEINIE . make the public pay for not granting them their exclusive business by telegraph .

f e And every hour of my li e, sinc that paragraph ‘ ’ has r of Modern Painters was written , inc eased , I

eeli n s a disdain to say my f g , but y, with fearless

kn owled e decision , my g , of the bitterness of the ‘ ’ la C curse, which the habits of hunting and hasse have brought upon the so - called upper classes of

and England France ; until, from knights and gentle men , they have sunk into j ockeys , speculators , usurers, butchers by battue ; and , the English

n o w especially, , as a political body, into what I ‘ have called them in the opening chapter of The

’ “ ' u Bible of Amiens, the sc rviest louts that ever ’ ” fouled God s earth with their carcases.

i is The language appears to be v olent . It simply

u brief, and acc rate . But I never meant it to remain

fi I will ive ifi a without justi cation , and , g the just c tion here at once .

Take your Johnson , and look out the adj ective

Scurvy, in its higher or figurative sense .

You find the first quotation he gives is from ‘ ’ Measure for Measure, spoken of the Duke, in ’ monk s disguise : “ I know him for a man divine and holy

Not scurvy, nor a temporary meddler .

Shaks e are In which passage , p , who never uses

’ 1 6 2 LOVE S MEINIE . ‘ ae infecting every condition of what they call sthesis,

left in the bodies of men, until they cannot be

happy with the pines and pansies of the Alps, until they have mixed tobacco smoke with the scent of

them ; and the whole concluding in the endurance

o r even enjoyment— o f the most squalid conditions

of filth in our capital cities , that have ever been

e . yet recorded , among the disgrac s of mankind ’ d is But, thir ly, Johnson s central quotation again ‘ ’ from Measure for Measure

“ He spoke sonr vy and pr ovoki ng terms against ” your honour .

The debates in the English House of Commons , for

- the last half century, having consisted virtually of nothing else " ‘ " I n ext take the word lout , of which Johnson gi ves two derivations fo r our choice : it is either ‘ ’ l the past participle of to lower, or make o w ; a lowed person , (as our House of Lords under the direction of railway companies and public - house keepers) ; or else— and more strictly I believe in ‘ ’ ‘ — a etymology form of the German leute, common ’ it s people . In either case, proper classical

“ is English sense given by J ohnson as a mean , ow ” awkward fellow ; a bumpkin , a cl n .

N o w I surely cannot refer to any general representation of British society more acceptable 111 ~ 6 A . 1 . THE D BCHICKS 3

to, and acknowledged by, that society, than the

finished and admirably composed drawings o f ‘ ’ Du Maurier in Punch , which have become every k k wee more and more consistent, een , and com prehensive , during the issues of the last two years

I as take three of them , quite trustworthy

o ur pictures, and the best present arts of delineation

u c se co ld produ e, of the three Etats , or repre ntative

orders , of the British nation of our day .

Of the Working class , take the type given in ’ 1 Lady Clara Robinson s garden tea party, p . 74 ,

vol . 7 9 2

C m i Of the Mercantile lass , Mr . S th , in his drawing

o . 2 2 2 . 8 0 . r om after dinner, p , vol n And of the Noblesse, the first five ge tlemen on ’ the right (spectator s right) of the line, in the ball

rd at Stilton House, (July 3 ,

o ur Of the manner or state of lout, to which

has its a manufacturing prosperity reduced rtisan ,

as represented in the first of these frescos , I do

not think it n eedful to speak here ; neither of the

level o f sublime temperament and unselfish heroism to which the dangers of commercial enterprise have

exalted Mr. Smith . But the five consecutive heads in the third fresco are a very notable piece o f E i i a nglish h story, represent ng the polished nd more or less lustrous type of lout which is indeed a ’ 1 64 LOVE S MEINIE .

kind of rolled shin gle of former English noblesse capable of nothing now in the way of resistance to

Atlantic liberalism , except of getting itself swept

m up into ugly harbour bars, and troubleso e shoals

in the tideway . o l And observe als , that of the three types of out,

whose combined Chorus and tripudiation leads the

x ’ it s present British Constitution devil s dance, this

last and smoothest type is also the dullest . Your

his cu ff operative lout, cannot indeed hold p of co ee

with a grace, or possess himself of a biscuit from ’ t Lady Clara s salver withou embarrassment ; but, in

can h his own mill , he at least make a needle wit out

an eye, or a nail without a head , or a knife that ’ cut it w t . won t , or something of that sort, i h dexter y

C i Also, the middle lass , or Smith an lout , at least

manages his stockbroking or marketing with decision

and cunning ; knows something by eye or touch of his e war s , and something of the characters of the

men he has to deal with . But the Ducal or Mar

uisian u q lout , has no knowledge of anything nder ’ sun s the , except what ort of horse s quarters will

his own carry , farther weighted with that smooth

' block or pebble of a pow; an d no faculty under the n sun of doing anything, except cutti g down the trees

his fathers planted for him , and selling the lands his

fathers won .

’ 1 66 LOVE S MEINIE . that both creatures are useful to the rest of

mankind , whether in war or peace . The Greeks gave the highest symbol of them in the bridling of Pegasus for Bellerophon by Athena ; and from that myth you may go down to modern times

— e understanding, according to your own s nse and dignity, what all prophecy, poetry, history, have told you — o f the horse whose neck is h clothed wit thunder, or the ox who treadeth ’ ’ — o f out the corn Joseph s chariot, or of Elijah s of Achilles and Xanthus— H erm in ius and Black

Auster — down to Scott and Brown Adam — o r

Dandie Dinmont and Dumple . That pastoral

n one, is, of all , the most enduri g . I hear the proudest tribe of Arabia Felix is n o w r educed by poverty and civilization to sell i t s last well - bred h o rse ; and thatwe send o ut our cavalry regiments w to repetitions of the charge at Balaclava, ithout horses at all ; those that they can pick up wherever they land being good enough for such military

- operations . But the cart horse will remain , when

the charger and hunter are no more ; and with a

wiser master .

“ ’ I ll buy him , for the dogs shall never \ Set tooth up on a friend s o true; ’ H e ll not live long ; but I for ever

d ue Shall know I gave the beast his . 111 T . HE DABCHICKS . 1 6 7

Ready as bird to meet the m o m Were all his efforts at the plough

— - o r Then the mill brook with hay corn , " ’ Good creature how he d spatter through .

I left him in the shafts behind , ’ His fellows all u nho o k d and gone ’ n e i h d u He g , and deemed the thing nkind w ' ” Then , starting, dre the load alone .

at

Half choked with j oy, with love, and pride,

H e n ow with dainty C l o ver fed him

Now took a short, triumphant ride,

A n ot d . then again g down , and led him

a ker Where Paris has h d to lead horses, we w a kno ; and where London had better le d hers ,

o f than let her people die starvation . But I have not lost my hope that there are yet in England

e icks Blo o m field s B w and , who may teach their

Children — and earn for their cattle— better ways

o f of fronting, and waiting for, Death . Nor are the uses of the inferior creatures to us less consistent with their happiness . To all that

live, Death must come . The manner of it, and

the time, are for the human Master of them , and

t e — n o t of h earth , to determine to his pleasure , but to his duty and his need . ’ 1 6 8 LovE s MEINIE .

his l In sacrifice , or for food , or for his c othing,

it is lawful for him to slay animals ; but not to

delight in slaying any that are helpless . If he

choose, for discipline and trial of courage, to

leave the boar in Calydon , the wolf in Taurus,

I n the tiger Bengal , or the wild bull in Aragon ,

there is forest and mountain wide enough for them

but the inhabited world in s ea and land should be

w i n one vast un alled park and treasure lake, which

f fish its flocks of sheep, or deer, or owl , or , should

as be tended and dealt with , best may multiply the ’ o use life of all L ve s Meinie, in strength, and , and peace .

’ LOVE S MEINIE .

Then in order will follow ’ i ae I . L nn us s name , marked L . ’

. B uffo n s F I I name, marked , the F standing also ‘ ’ for French when any popular French name is ’ Buffo n s given with .

m I II . The German popular na e, marked T

(Teutonic) , for I want the G for Mr . Gould ; and

I this T will include authoritative Germ an scientific

names also .

. m IV The Italian p opular na e , if one exists , to give the connection with old Latin , marked I . ’ ’ ’ Y arre ll s V . Mr. Gould s name, G ; , Y, Dressler s , ’ ff s . D and Gesner , Ges, being added , if di erent ’ Bewi ck s VI . , B ’ ’ Shaks eare s VI I . p and Chaucer s , if I know them ;

' and general references , such as may be needful . The Appendix will thus contain the names of all the birds I am able to think or learn anything about , as I can set down what I think or learn and with no other attempt at order than the slight grouping of convenience :but the numbers of the

s o species examined will be consecutive , that L . M .

— ’ — 2 N - five o r 5 , Love s Meinie, umber twenty , what i a , at d e n tif an ever the number m y be will once y x y ’ m l bird in the syste of the St . George s schoo s . 1 1 APPENDIX . 7

A A T RUTILA FAMILI RIS . ROBIN REDBRE S .

Rube cula Motacilla . L .

u - Ro ge Gorge . F.

- br tle i — - - eus n . ro etele ro et ele . Roth Wald . Winter

— - kehlsche n Roth . T .

- Petti rosso . I .

E r thacus Rubecula Rubecula r h s es t acu G . y . G . E y .

E r h R l t aca ubec u a . y . Y

R ubecula Familiaris . D .

Ruddock . B .

C tain e Ruddo cke Ruddock , in ymbeline ; , in

Fo wlé s - re debreast Assembly of ; full robin , m the Court of Love :

R ed ebreast . The second lesson, Robin sang

is It rightly classed by F. and Y . with the Warblers .

— ‘ Gould strangely puts it with his rock birds , saxi ’ colin ae — in w , which, ho ever, he also includes the sedge warbler.

The true Robin is properly a wood - bird ; the

S wedish blue - throated one lives in marshes and arable fields . I have never seen a robin in really ‘ wild mountain ground . There is only one European species of the red breasted Robin; Gould names two Japanese ones . ’ 1 2 7 LOVE S MEINIE .

I I .

HIRUNDO DOMESTICA . HOUSE SWALLOW .

Hirundo Rustica . L .

Hirondelle Domestique . F .

Schwalbe . T . Swala, Swedish, and Saxon ,

w . whence our S allow : but compare Lecture I I ,

44 . i w Rondine Comune . I . (note Rond ne, the Swallo ;

o . Rond ne, the Swift ) H irundo Rustica . G . and Y.

- w Chimney Swallo . B .

I I I .

M N A . A T HIRUNDO O STICA M RTLE .

Hirundo Urbica . L .

Hirondelle de Fenetre . F .

- - Kirch schwalbe . (Church Swallow. ) T .

Balestruccio . I .

Chelidon Urbica . D . and G .

H irundo Urbica . Martin . Y .

- Martlet, Martinet, or Window Swallow. Y.

’ , Ma I cannot get at the root of this word rtlet , which is the really classical and authoritative English

one . I have called it Monastica, in translation o f

’ “ ” ' h ks ar s - S a pe e temple haunting . The m ain idea

’ 1 74 LOVE S MEINIE .

- - - f - Rhein schwalbe, (Rhine Swallow,) u er schwalbe ,

- — - - Sw l . . (Shore allow,) erd schwalbe, (Earth Swa low) T

- — . Topino . (The mouse colour . ) Rondine di riva . I

Cotyle Riparia . G . Hirundo Riparia . Y.

- Bank Martin . B .

‘ ’ is The Italian name, Topino, a good familiar one , the bird being scarcely larger than a mouse, “ the d and hea , neck, breast, and back of a mouse

B is colour. ( . ) It the smallest of the Swallow tribe, ’ and shortest of wing ; accordingly, I find Spallanzani s

o f w- fli ht was experiment on the rate swallo g , for greater certainty and severity, made with this appa re n tl its — a y feeblest of kind marked Topino, brought from its nest at Pavia to Milan, (fifteen

ni in ut es miles,) flew back to Pavia in thirteen . I imagine a Swift would at least have doubled this rate of flight, and that we may safely take a hundred

- miles an hour as an average of swallow speed . ’ is - fifths M ichelet s This, however, less by three than

. 8 estimate See above, Lecture I I . , 4 . ‘ ’ ‘ ’ I have substituted bank for sand in the English

S l X name, since all the quoted authorities give it this epithet in Latin or French , and Bewick in

English . Also, it may be well thus to distinguish

s a- it from birds of the e shore . I APPENDIX . 7 5

V .

H I T RUNDO SAGITTA . SWI F .

Hirundo Apus . L .

Martinet Noir. F .

- Ge r - . l . y schwalbe (Vulture Swal ow. ) T

Rondone . (Plural , Rondini .) I .

Cypselus Apus . G . and Y .

Swift, Black Martin , or Deviling . B .

I think it will be often well to admit the licens e

as of using a substantive for epithet, ( one says rock ‘ ’ se a - bird or bird , and not rocky, or in

Latin as well as in English . We thus greatly w increase our p o er, and assist the brevity of nomen clat ure and we gain the convenience of using the

second term by itself, when we wish to do so, more ‘ naturally . Thus , one may shortly speak of The ’ Sagitta (when one is o n a scientific point where Swift ’ would be indecorous more easily than one ‘ ’ ‘ ’ u could speak of The Strid la, or The Velox, if we gave the bird either of those epithets . I think this of Sagitta is the most descriptive one could well find ; only the reader is always to recollect that arrow- birds must be mo re heavy in the head

- or shaft than arrow weapons , and fly more in the

- - rifle . manner of shot than bow shot . See Lecture II , ’ 1 7 6 LovE s MEINIE .

6 6 1 w 4 , 7 , 7 , in which last paragraph , ho ever, I

s have to correct the careles statement, that in the

sailing flight, without stroke, of the larger falcons, their weight ever acts like the st ri ng of a kite .

Their weight acts simply as the wezgkt of a kite im h l n o w . m acts, and other ise (Co pare The p

‘ sive force in sailing can be given only by the tail

0 the fin . feathers, like that of a darting tr ut by tail I do not think any excuse necessary for my rejection of the name which seems most to have established ‘ ’ ‘ ’ e . itself lately, Cyps lus Apus, Footless Capsule

is is It not footless, and there no sense in calling a bird a capsule because it lives in a hole, (which

u the Swift does not) . The Greeks had a do ble idea

is e in the word , which it not the l ast necessary to ’ is n keep ; and Aristotle s cypselus ot the swift, but the bank - martlet they brin g up their young in ” lon cells made out of clay, g in the entrance . The swift bei n g preci sely the one of the H irun di n es

n ot it s which does make nest of clay, but of miscellaneous straws, threads, and shreds of any

can “ adaptable rubbish , which it snatch from the ”6 as ' n ground it stoops on the wi g, or pilfer from

- f any half ruined nests o other birds .

’ I have in different tim es an d places opened ten or twelve swifts

ests all of t em I ou d h m m a e a s an d t ese o s st n ; in h f n t e sa e t ri l , h c n i ing of a eat a et of su st a es— s a k of o d r ass m oss em gr v ri y b nc t l s c rn , y gr , , h p ,

’ 1 7 8 LOVE S MEINIE .

as as nearly large a hawk, and lives high in air, nothing but rocks or cathedrals serving it for nest .

In France, seen only near the Alps ; in Spain , among

“ the mountains of Aragon . Almost every person who has had an opportunity of observing this bird sp eaks in terms of admiration of its vast powers

is of flight ; it not surprising, therefore, that an individual should now and then wing it s way across

’ Chan n e l t o the the British islands , and roam over ” is i . G. s our meads and fields until it shot ( ) It , I

e — believe, the swallow of the Bibl , abundant, though

only a summer migrant, in the Holy Land . I have

o f never seen it, that I know of, nor thought it in the lecture on the Swallow ; but give here the

Hirun din e s complete series of , of which some notice in may incidentally afterwards occur the text .

VI I .

- EUROP ZEA. T AR OF NOCTUA NIGH J EUROPE .

ae s Caprimulgus Europ u . L . ’ - L E n o uleve n t . . g F (Crapaud volant, popular . )

Geissm elcher — h - . Nac t schade . T .

Covat erra . I .

a Caprimulgus Europ eus . G . and Y .

- Night j ar. B .

- a k , i Dorrh w and Fern owl also given by Bew ck, are the most beautiful E n glish n ames fo r this bird ; 1 APPENDIX . 79

is n but as it really either a hawk nor an owl , though much mingled in its manners of both , I keep the

- - usual one, Night j ar, ( euphonious for Night Churr, from its continuous note like the sound of a spinning

wheel . The idea of its sucking goats , or any other

milky creature, has long been set at rest and

o f science, intolerant legends in which there is any w use or beauty, cannot be allo ed to ratify in its dog

or pig- Latin those which are eternally vulgar and

ro fitles s p . I had first thought of calling it Hirundo

Nocturna ; but this would be too broad massing ; for

although the creature is more swallow than o wl

o n living wholly insects, it must be properly held as

a d istinct species from both . Owls cannot gape like

constrictors nor have swallows whiskers or beards,

or combs to keep both in order with, on their middle ’ - toes . This bird s cat like bristles at the base of the h beak connect it wit the bearded Toucans , and so also the toothed mandibles of the American cave N dwelling variety. I shall not want the word octua

for the owls themselves, and it is a pretty and simple ‘ for one this tribe, enabling the local epithet Euro ’ pean , and other necessary ones, of varieties, to be

retained for the second or specific term . Nacht

N - loss schade, ight , the popular German name, perhaps

really still refers to this supposed nocturnal thieving ;

- or may have fallen euphonious from Nacht schwalbe, ’ 1 8 0 LOVE S MEINIE .

‘ ’ - n is which in some places abides . Crapaud vola t

but the ugly, descriptive, the brown speckling of

i i bird be ng ndeed toadlike, though wonderful and

has beautiful . Bewick put his utmost skill into it ;

cut m a and the , with the Bittern and White Owl , y perhaps stand otherwise unrivalled by any of his hand . ’ i d it s Gould s draw ng of the bir on ground nest ,

o r t ro un d n g co tentedly taken for nest, among heath

- is and scarlet topped lichen, among the most beau tiful in his book ; and there are four quite exquisite

drawings by Mr . Ford, of African varieties, in Dr . ’ Smith s zoology of South Africa . The one called by the doctor Eu rop aeus seems a greyer and more

n N atale n sis graceful bird tha ours . wears a most

i

- ak a a k . Rufi en a wonderful dark o le f p ttern of cloa g ,

R ufic ll I suppose, blushes herself separate from o is of Gould ? but these foreign varieties seem count

. a a x less I sh ll never h ve time to e amine them , but thought it not well to end the titular list of the swallows without notice of the position of this great tribe .

VIII .

F - ON TI UM . Z MERULA TORRENT OU EL .

Sturnus Cinclus . L . ’ d E au Merle . F .

’ 1 8 2 LOVE S MEINIE .

Giesbach (as in Staubbach , , Reichenbach) being essen ‘ ’ t iall m y a ountain waterfall ; and their amsel , as our

Damsel , merely the Teutonic form of the Demoiselle ‘ ’ D o m icilla— - or House Ouzel , as it were, (said of a

— D o m icilla nice girl) again being, I think , merely

s — the transpo ition of Ancilla Domini , Behold , the handmaid of the Lord : (see frontispiece to third ’ volume of Modern Painters ) which , if young ladies in general were to embroider on their girdles— though ‘ as as their dresses , fitting at present close a glove ‘ (s ee description of modern American ideal in A Fair Barbarian ’) do not usually require girdles either — it for their keys or their manners, would probably be thought irreverent by modern clergymen but if

she the demoiselle were none the better for it , certainly be none the worse .

I X.

- A ET N YM P H ZEA . Z LLEGR TA LILY OU EL .

X r 1 I . A. Va . ( )

T N YM PH ZEA A ALLEGRE TA , MACUL TA . T E SPOT ED ALL GRET .

Rallus Porzana . L . ’ d E au u Poule Maro ette . F .

in ke rn ell W . T . 1 8 APPENDIX . 3

Porzana . I .

Z a o rn ia p Porzana . G .

Crex Porzana . Y .

O rt o m et ra . yg Porzana . Steph

u et Gallin la Maculata Punctata . Brehmen . C Spotted rake . B . ‘ The Win kern ell is I believe provincial (Alsace) ; so Girard in a Girar in e — I d . , , Milanese, and , Picard c an make nothing whatever of any of these names

- Porzana, Bolognese and Venetian , might perhaps mean Piggy- bird ; and Ortygo m e tra Porzana would ‘ — then mean , in serious English , the Q uail sized Pig ’ I' bird . am sorry not to be able to do better as

Interpreter for my scientific friends .

I X. B .

T A N YM P HZEA STELLARI S . ALLEGRE T ,

STARRY ALLEGRET .

a f n i Not separated by Linn eus, or Buf o , or Bew ck , nor by p op ular German or French names , from the

Marouette . ’ Baillo n n Crex , Baillon s Crake . Y .

ae Porzana Pygm a . G .

Stellaris Tem m in ck. Gallinula . X. C I .

TTA YM PH ZEA A A E . N . ALLEGRE , MINUT TINY LL GRET

Porzana Minuta, Olivaceous Crake . G . Y Crex Pusilla, Little Crake . . ’ T m i ck d E au e m n . Poule Poussin .

Little Gallinule . B .

was w It never occurred to me, when I riting of ’ l a c assical landsc pe, that Poussin to a French ear ‘ ’ conveyed the idea of chicken , or of the young of ‘ ’ I s as . birds in general . ( it from pousser, if they were a kind of budding of bird ?) Everybody seems to agree in feeling that this is a kind of wren among ’ ’ Bewick s the dabchicks . name , Little Gallinule ,

twice -I meaning of course, if he knew it , the fi over little

Gallina - and here again the question occurs to me

0 I s - ab ut its voice . it a twice over little crow, called a ’ ’ creak , or anything like the Rail s more provokingly continuous objurgation — compare notes below on l Rallus Aquaticus . I find , with some a arm, in

f - Buf on , that one with a longer tail , the Cau rale or ‘ - is Tail rail of Cayenne , there called Little Peacock of the Roses but its cry is represented by the ‘ ’ - liquid syllables Piolo , while the black spotted one ’ ‘ ’ of the Society Islands— Magellan s Water- quail ’ - a- - says Poo nee, and the Bidi bidi of Jamaica says ‘ ’ - Bidi bidi .

’ 1 8 6 LOVE S MEINIE .

smaller, which is absurd enough, unless the smaller

' are also the browner .

But I find i n Buffon some interesting particulars ' n o t — given in my text namely, that the whole f group dif ers from common chicks , not only in the

se t so lobed feet, but in these being far back, ’ (becoming almost a fish s tail indeed , rather than ’ e a bird s legs ,) that they are quite us less for walking, and could support the bird only on land if it Stood

“ upright : but that it dashes through the waves

se a the larger varieties through waves) , and “ runs on the surface ” ? the smaller varieties on p ools ,) with surprising rapidity ; its motions are said to be never quicker and brisker than when e under wat r . It pursues the fish to a very great ’ d fisher en s an m . depth , is often caught in nets It

c dives deeper than the scoter du k, which is taken only o n beds of shell - fish left bare by the ebb - tide

while the Grebes are taken in the open sea, often t at more than wenty feet depth .

X I . T T A I ANIA RCTICA . ARCTIC FAIRY .

P Tringa ulicaria . L .

(N 0 French name given in my edition of Buffon

No German , anywhere .

No Italian , anywhere . 8 APPENDIX . 7

But of suggestions by scientific authors, here are

“ enough to choose from :

G. Lobipes Hyperboreus, Lobip es Hyperborea , s Selby . Phalaropus Hyperboreu , Penn . Phalarope H erbo re . Fulicaria yp , Temm Phalaropus , Mont .

F c s R f s n s us u . u e ce Phalaropus , Bewick Phalaropus ,

- E d - . w Briss Red Coot footed Tringa, . Red necked

- Phalarope , Gould . Lobe foot, Selby . Cootfoot ,

Fleming . I am a little shocked at my own choice of name

i i in this case, not quite p leasing my mag nation

C - with the idea of a oot footed Fairy . But since Athena herself thinks it no disgrace to take for

disguise the likeness either of a sea - gull or a

w - swallo , a sea fairy may certainly be thought of ’ as condescending to appear with a diving bird s

o n e m a foot ; and the rather that, if y j udge by ’ f u s o f p ainters ef orts to give sight Fairyland, the general character of its inhabitants is more that of

' r earthly o marine goblins than aerial ones . " n N o w this is strange At the last mome t , I ’ find this sent ence in Gould s introduction : “ The generic terms Phalaropus and Lobipes have been ” - instituted for the f a i ry like phalaropes . ’ LOVE S MEINIE .

XI E . .

T A A . ITANIA I N CON STAN S . CH NGEFUL F IRY

Tringa Lobata . L .

Phalaropus Fulicarius (Grey Phalarope) . G .

Phalaropus Lobatus . Latham .

Phalarope with indented festoons, English

ff — I t o f trans . of Bu on . is no use to ring the

changes farther .

XI I .

A T W A . RALLUS Q UA ICUS . ATER R IL

L G. . Rallus Aquaticus . . , , Y ’ a d E au R le . F.

- — n ? Ges . Samet H en n le Velvet (silke ) hen .

- - ? H e n n le T . Schwartz Wasser .

- a el K . V gt onge . Danish

P . Porzana, or orzana, at Venice

- — Brook Ouz el V elvet Runner. B .

o f f I take this group foreign names from Buf on ,

but question the German one, which must belong

to the Water Hen ; for the Rail is not black ,

I thin k ff but prettily grey and spotted , and \ Bu on

confuses the two birds, as several popular names do .

H e n is Thus, the Velvet also, I fancy, the Water

XI B I . .

T T H EN . PULLA AQ UA ICA . WA ER

There seems so much confusion in the minds, or

at least the language, of ornithologists , between

the Water Rail and Water Hen , that I give this

I B latter bird under the number XI . . rather than X w I I I ., ( hich would , besides , be an unlucky number to end my Appendix with) ; and it would be very nice , if at all possible or proper, to keep these two larger dabchicks connected pleasantly in schoolgirl ‘ minds by their costumes , and call one Silken ’ — Runner, and this, which , as said above, Gesner seems to mean , Velvet Runner, or Velvet Hen . V ? 1 m Poule de Soie or Poule de elours ‘ getting ’ a however T I fin d a little confused myself, , at last,

w u bet een Po les, Poussins, Pullets , and Pullas ; and must for the present leave the matter to the reader’s

C hoice and fancy, till I get some more birds looked

n ae m d z— at, and only, for a pretty end of my

Appendix , here are two bits of very precious letters , sent me by friends who know birds better than most

— o n e scientific people, but have been too busy in ‘ ’ ’ a Dorcas Society, and the other in a children s

— n w hospital to write books , and only d write these

o f bits letters on my special petition . The member o f the Dorcas Society sends me this brief but final 1 APPENDIX . 9 I and satisfactory answer to my above question about birds ’ ears We talk and think of birds as essentially u m sical and mimetic, or at least vocal and noisy . creatures ; and yet we seem to think that altho ugh

they have an ear, they have no ears . Little or

’ o f s nothing is told us the structure of a bird ear. We are n o w too enlightened to believe in what ’ we can t see ; and ears that are never pricked , or

- cocked , or laid back, that merely receive and learn , ’ b ut — n o t don t exp ress, that are organs , features , ’ don t interest our philosophers now . “ If you blow gently on the feathers of the side ’ of a bird s head , a little above and behind the corner

of the beak, a little below and behind the eye, the

parted feathers will show the listening place ; a little hole with convolutions of delicate skin turning

inwards, very much like what your own ear would — I be if you had none, mean , if all of it that lies

o f above the level the head had been removed ,

leaving no trace . No one who looks at the little

' s ee that . it hole could fail to is an ear, highly

— an a organized ear for music ; at le st, I found it so among the finches I have examined I know not if a simpler structure is evident in the ear of a rook

or a peacock . ’

The feathers are so planted round a bird s ears, ’ 1 9 2 LOVE S MEINIE .

’ u in— that however r ffled or wet, they can t get and

possibly they conduct sound . Birds have no need of ears with a moveable cowl over them , to turn and

fo r a as twist the c tching of stray sounds, foxes

an - i have, and hares , d other four footed th ngs ; for a bird can turn his whole head s o as to put his e ar wherever he pleases in the twinkling of an eye ; and

has t he too many resources, wha ever bird he may

be, of voice and gesture , to need any power of ear

- flatten in cocking to welcome his friends , or ear g to menace his foes .

“ The long and the short of it is, that we may as

well take the trouble first to look for, and then to

’ — look at, a bird s ear having first made the bird like ’ us so and trust us much, that he won t mind a

his us see human breath upon cheek, but will let

the behind the veil , into doorless corridor that lets ” - music into the bird soul .

Next ; the physician (over whom , to get the

use t letter out of him , I had to the au hority of a more than ordinarily imperious patient) says,

Now for the grebes lowering themselves in water,

was (which Lucy said I to tell you about) . The

way in which they manage it, I believe to be this .

Most birds have under their skins great air - passages

which open into the lungs , and which , when the bird

v n n is mo i g quickly, and consequently devouri g a

’ 1 9 4 LovE S MEINIE .

o l This most valuable letter, for nce, eaves me a

d o minute or two, isposed to ask a questi n which would need the skinning of a bird in a diagra m to “ — - answer about the air passages , which are a kind ”

. a d of supplementary lungs Thinking better of it, n

d o leaving the bird to breathe in its own way, I wish

— we could get this Dipper question settled , for here

sea— o r r we are all at at least at b ook , again , about it :and although in a book I ought to have exam ined ’ ‘ — M r before . Robert Gray s Birds of the West of ’ u o f Scotland , which contains a q antity useful and

am u sing things, and some plates remarkable for the

delicate and spirited action of birds in groups ,

s a - although, I y, this unusually well gathered and

well - written book has a nice little lithograph of two

distri dippers, and says they are quite universally ‘ ’ n buted in Scotla d , and called Water Crows , and in ’ ’ Gobha allt m Gaelic dubh nan , (which I m sure ust

mean something nice, if one knew what ,) and though ’ it has a lively account of the bird s ways out o f the

water— says not a word of its ways i n it "except

“ dee lin n s that dippers everywhere delight in p \ and

brawling rapids, where their interesting motions never

fail to attract the angler and bird - student and this

of their voices In early spring, the male birds may

- be seen perched on some moss covered stone , trilling “ their fine clear notes and again : I h ave stood APPE NT HX . 1 9 5

within a few yards of one at the close of a bluster ’ ing winter s day, and enjoyed its charming music

unobserved . The performer was sitting on a stake j utting from a mill - pond in the midst of a cold and

r chee less Forfarshire moor, yet he j oyously warbled

his evening hymn with a fulness which made m e ” forget the surrounding sterility. r Forget it not, thou , good reader ; but ather

remember it in your own hymns , and your own

— in prayers, that still Bonnie Scotland , and Old

— i England the vo ces, almost lost, of Brook, and ’ Breeze, and Bird , may, by Love s help , be yet to il their lovers audible . Ainsi soit .

D t/z ett 1 88 1 . B RAN Twoo , 8 j y ,

END or VOL L H

L r W in e P rin ters on don and A lesbu . H azell, at son and V y , , , y y