From J. J. Weir 4 July 1870
6 Haddo Villas | Blackheath SE
4 July 1870
My Dear Sir
I regret that I was not sufficiently clear about the long haired rabbit, what I intended to convey was that he was the parent of between 30 & 40 short haired young, and then of a litter of five, of which he was parent, 4 were long & one short haired, no young were produced in the slightest degree intermediate in pelage.—1
The Cytisus case is a good one, the stock was grafted in my Brothers Garden by his own Gardener.—2
I particularly examined the tree to see if there was a chance of a double graft, but am quite certain such was not the case.—
I forgot to mention that birds of prey when enraged, elevate the feathers all over the body and also spread the wings & tail, this I have noticed repeatedly in the three species I have kept viz The Kestrel Sparrowhawk & Merlin.—3
They are also the only birds, that if unable to fly throw themselves on their backs & strike with their talons upwards.—
The Proverb says that “Hawks do not pick out Hawks eyes”, but I find that they do, the female Sparrow Hawks of a nest of 3 or 4 I tried to rear, killed the males & began to eat the heads.—
I am glad to say my thumb is better & the disease is subdued.—4
Believe me | Yours very sincerely | J Jenner Weir
C Darwin Esqr
CD annotations
Footnotes
Summary
On mutations in rabbits.
Cytisus case is not a double graft.
Aggressive behaviour of birds of prey.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7264
- From
- John Jenner Weir
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Blackheath
- Source of text
- DAR 181: 83
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7264,” accessed on 10 May 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7264.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18