To J. J. Weir 20 May [1869]1
Down, Beckenham, Kent. S.E.
May 20.
My dear Sir
I feel that I have a sort of prescriptive right to bother you for information. Mr. Gould told me that male nightingales immigrate before the females; and that he had ascertained this was the case with the snipe and he believed that it was general with migratory Birds.2 Do you know anything on this head? There is a man in or near Brighton, who sometimes writes in the Ibis, and who I imagine may be a bird-stuffer, and who seems to have paid special attention to migratory Birds.3 Do you know to whom I refer, for if I could discover his name and address, I would write to him, supposing that you are not able to give me information on this head. I fear that the migratory birds are not largely caught by the Bird-catchers; and the South coast would be the best place for observation
Believe me, my dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
I could no doubt find out the Brighton man’s address through Sclater.4
Footnotes
Bibliography
Post Office directory of the six home counties: Post Office directory of the six home counties, viz., Essex, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. London: W. Kelly & Co. 1845–78.
Summary
Asks for information about male birds migrating before females.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-6753
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Jenner Weir
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 148: 322
- Physical description
- C 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6753,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6753.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 17