{"product_id":"2940016110325","title":"BIRDS AND MAN","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  CHAP.                                                         PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     I. Birds at their Best                                        1\u003cbr\u003e    II. Birds and Man                                             37\u003cbr\u003e   III. Daws in the West Country                                  58\u003cbr\u003e    IV. Early Spring in Savernake Forest                          79\u003cbr\u003e     V. A Wood Wren at Wells                                     101\u003cbr\u003e    VI. The Secret of the Willow Wren                            117\u003cbr\u003e   VII. Secret of the Charm of Flowers                           133\u003cbr\u003e  VIII. Ravens in Somerset                                       159\u003cbr\u003e    IX. Owls in a Village                                        173\u003cbr\u003e     X. The Strange and Beautiful Sheldrake                      187\u003cbr\u003e    XI. Geese: an Appreciation and a Memory                      199\u003cbr\u003e   XII. The Dartford Warbler                                     222\u003cbr\u003e  XIII. Vert--Vert; or Parrot Gossip                             249\u003cbr\u003e   XIV. Something Pretty in a Glass Case                         269\u003cbr\u003e    XV. Selborne                                                 283\u003cbr\u003e        Index                                                    303\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBIRDS AND MAN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBIRDS AT THEIR BEST\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_By Way of Introduction_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYears ago, in a chapter concerning eyes in a book of Patagonian\u003cbr\u003ememories, I spoke of the unpleasant sensations produced in me by the\u003cbr\u003esight of stuffed birds. Not bird skins in the drawers of a cabinet, it\u003cbr\u003ewill be understood, these being indispensable to the ornithologist, and\u003cbr\u003every useful to the larger class of persons who without being\u003cbr\u003eornithologists yet take an intelligent interest in birds. The\u003cbr\u003eunpleasantness was at the sight of skins stuffed with wool and set up on\u003cbr\u003etheir legs in imitation of the living bird, sometimes (oh, mockery!) in\u003cbr\u003etheir \"natural surroundings.\" These \"surroundings\" are as a rule\u003cbr\u003econstructed or composed of a few handfuls of earth to form the floor of\u003cbr\u003ethe glass case--sand, rock, clay, chalk, or gravel; whatever the\u003cbr\u003ematerial may be it invariably has, like all \"matter out of place,\" a\u003cbr\u003egrimy and depressing appearance. On the floor are planted grasses,\u003cbr\u003esedges, and miniature bushes, made of tin or zinc and then dipped in a\u003cbr\u003ebucket of green paint. In the chapter referred to it was said, \"When the\u003cbr\u003eeye closes in death, the bird, except to the naturalist, becomes a mere\u003cbr\u003ebundle of dead feathers; crystal globes may be put into the empty\u003cbr\u003esockets, and a bold life-imitating attitude given to the stuffed\u003cbr\u003especimen, but the vitreous orbs shoot forth no life-like glances: the\u003cbr\u003e'passion and the life whose fountains are within' have vanished, and the\u003cbr\u003ebest work of the taxidermist, who has given a life to his bastard art,\u003cbr\u003eproduces in the mind only sensations of irritation and disgust.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat, in the last clause, was wrongly writ. It should have been _my_\u003cbr\u003emind, and the minds of those who, knowing living birds intimately as I\u003cbr\u003edo, have the same feeling about them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis, then, being my feeling about stuffed birds, set up in their\u003cbr\u003e\"natural surroundings,\" I very naturally avoid the places where they are\u003cbr\u003eexhibited. At Brighton, for instance, on many occasions when I have\u003cbr\u003evisited and stayed in that town, there was no inclination to see the\u003cbr\u003eBooth Collection, which is supposed to be an ideal collection of British\u003cbr\u003ebirds; and we know it was the life-work of a zealous ornithologist who\u003cbr\u003ewas also a wealthy man, and who spared no pains to make it perfect of\u003cbr\u003eits kind. About eighteen months ago I passed a night in the house of a\u003cbr\u003efriend close to the Dyke Road, and next morning, having a couple of\u003cbr\u003ehours to get rid of, I strolled into the museum. It was painfully\u003cbr\u003edisappointing, for though no actual pleasure had been expected, the\u003cbr\u003edistress experienced was more than I had bargained for. It happened that\u003cbr\u003ea short time before, I had been watching the living Dartford warbler, at\u003cbr\u003ea time when the sight of this small elusive creature is loveliest, for\u003cbr\u003enot only was the bird in his brightest feathers, but his surroundings\u003cbr\u003ewere then most perfect--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   The whin was frankincense and flame.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis appearance, as I saw him then and on many other occasions in\u003cbr\u003ethe furze-flowering season, is fully described in a chapter in\u003cbr\u003ethis book; but on this particular occasion while watching my bird\u003cbr\u003eI saw it in a new and unexpected aspect, and in my surprise and\u003cbr\u003edelight I exclaimed mentally, \"Now I have seen the furze wren at\u003cbr\u003ehis very best!\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47101171302640,"sku":"2940016110325","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016110325","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}