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    Atlantic , I experienced none of the pleasures most congenial to my mind . None but aerial companions suited my fancy . No roof seemed so secure as that formed of the dense foliage under which the feathered tribes were seen to resort , or the caves and fissures of the massy rocks to which the dark-winged cormorant and the curlew retired to rest or to protect themselves from the fury of the tempest . '

    In this appropriate spirit has Mr . Mudie approached the study of nature ; his volume , entitled * The Feathered Tribes of the British Islands / his ' Guide to the Observation of Nature , ' and his present ' Natural History of Birds , ' are all welcome tributes to the naturalist . He is a practical observer , and one whom we delight to meet with , no matter at what season , either

    in the forest or the field . The autobiography of his studies , if we may so designate that portion of the introduction to his ' Natural History of Birds , ' wherein from his personal experience he explains the advantages of original observations over book authorities in general , is in accordance with the principles we have above detailed :

    * In early life / he observes , * my access to what are called elementary books , was very limited ; but my facilities for observing natural objects and phenomena , and some of the productions and operations of art , were correspondingly great . I found the acquiring of as much knowledge of these as in so far enabled me to understand their nature , their relations to each other , and their uses to man , instead of being a

    repulsive and laborious task , a very fascinating and very easy amusement ; so fascinating that I was never tired of it , and so easy that it hindered nothing- else , and nobody heeded it . At this time I sometimes found , or fancied I found , that those who had the books professing to explain the subjects , knew less of the subjects themselves than I did ; that he who was familiar with the goldfinch in the book , knew little of the goldfinch in the bush , and so of other matters . '—pp . 3 and 4 .

    Hence , the author has not founded his observations on the authority of other men ; he has not re-echoed their theories or descriptions ; he has exercised the birth-ri ght of every noble and independent mind ; he has gone forth into nature , and studied for himself , lie has , in so doing , commenced by giving a broad and general view of the facts he has observed ; and has then minutel y entered into details :

    'The knowledge of natural history , ' he remarks , ' is to be acquired , not by the enumeration of details , but by dashing onward with the great principles , and throwing a glance now here , now there , to connect the immediate subjects with all the necessary collateral ones , as we career along . Who , when the gallant ship is sweeping by with so much velocity

    that the landsman who gazes from the shore feels his head turn giddy and nature around him reel again , as if aroused by the spirit-stirring sight , would stoop down to count the pebbles on the beach ? Who , when the falcon is on the chase , or the eagle on the stoop , would pause to count the fc + tbp r * on the wiijg , or the spots on a feather ? And , much

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    « 72 The Study of Birds .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1835, page 272, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2644/page/48/