To E. W. V. Harcourt 9 May [1856]
Down Farnborough Kent
May 9th
Sir
I do not know whether you will allow a strong taste for Natural History as some excuse for the liberty I take in writing to you & begging the favour of a little information. Having visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle & collected at many islands, I am greatly interested in their natural History, & I have lately seen your list, with valuable remarks, of the birds of Madeira.—1 I observe in your list a considerable number of occasional visitants, & I am for reasons, with which I will not trouble you, very curious to hear, whether you have any idea how frequently such stray wanderers visit the island. Whether, for instance, the same wanderer has been seen more than once. If I knew at what date the list was begun, then I could, on the supposition that the same species had never arrived more than once, get some very rude idea whether on an average one or two wandering Birds arrived in the course of a year. Might I ask whether the wanderers have been observed at the times of migration of the Europæan species?— I presume there can be no sort of evidence to lead to the belief that wanderers of the same species of Birds, which permanently inhabit the island, are ever blown from the continent to Madeira.—
I suppose I am right in inferring from your list that no regular migratory Birds inhabit Madeira.—2
If you will forgive this rather long series of questions, & be so kind, at your leisure, to afford me any information, I shall feel very much obliged, & I beg to remain | Sir | Your obliged servant | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Harcourt, Edward Vernon. 1855. Notes on the ornithology of Madeira. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2d ser. 15: 430–8.
Summary
Has seen EWVH’s list of the birds of Madeira, and would like to know more about the ‘occasional visitants’.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1870F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Edward William Vernon Harcourt
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Bodleian Libraries, Oxford (MS. Harcourt dep. adds. 346, fols. 248–9)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1870F,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1870F.xml