Dear Sir,

I thank you for your very kind letter.¹ The smallest of the birds of the second hatch shall be dispatched in the course of a few days to D^r Meadows.² I will do nothing about the other birds until I hear from you. I suppose that any remaining birds must be killed & eaten but I feel that this is something like murder. I am glad to hear that you will send a paper on the subject to the Zoolog Soc; for there is nothing like discussion on all sorts of subjects.³ I should think, but cannot of course tell positively, that your paper would be printed by the council. What you say about the Soc neglecting domestic productions is extremely true, and I have often expressed my great regret with respect to this prejudice. I am much obliged for the offer of the drawings, but they would be of no use to me as my Note will consist of only a few lines just stating the fact of the birds having bred.⁴

My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Charles Darwin