TILE CULT OF BIRDS.
The extension of the cult of birds in Britain continually astonishes. Its latest sphere is the university. I know under- graduates who have completely surrendered games in order to watch birds. They do not collect eggs or anything else beyond experience. They observe and photograph ; and that is the end. In regard to Cambridge, it is remarkable that the advance of the cult owes a good deal to a woman. It used to be a commonplace of criticism that women were rare and inaccurate observers of wild life, in spite of their eminence as gardeners and botanists. The change, and general recognition of the change is largely due to Miss Turner, to whom the Cambridge Bird Society owes much. If not as supreme in the study of birds as Miss Frances Pitt in the study of our mammals, she has many records, of eye and camera, to her credit that are beyond rivalry.
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