As I have been a subscriber to The Mirror from its commencement, and very frequently refer to its pages with much pleasure and profit, I hope I may be allowed to correct a statement made in No. 541, p. 222, under the article Tea. It is said that the profit of one pound to sell at 7s. is 2s. 2d.

In all retail houses of any respectability in the Tea trade, I am sure that Tea costing 2s. 5d. at the sale is never sold above 6s. per lb. and in five out of six shops of the above description 5s. 4d. and 5s. 6d. is the utmost price demanded for such Tea. I and my family have been in the trade, in one house, considerably more than half a century, and I can assure you, that from 6d. to 8d. per lb. is the present retail profit upon Tea sold at the East India Company's sales, under 3s. per lb.

In reply to this note, the authenticity of which we do not question, we can only refer the writer to our distinct quotation from "the evidence of Mr. Mills, a Tea Broker, before the House of Lords.' In our 15th volume, No. 414, p. 104, the proportion of profit is differently stated from an article in the Quarterly Review. A pound of 11s.

Hyson

We have often received from one of the most extensively dealing retail Tea-dealers in the metropolis, an assurance, similar to that of our correspondent, S. so that we do not require the substantiation he proffers.—Ed. M.

THE NATURALIST

GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY

Observers of Nature seem to be just now appreciating the observation of the benevolent Gilbert White, of Selborne, who lived and died in the last century: "that if stationary men would pay some attention to the districts on which they reside, and would publish their thoughts respecting the objects that surround them, from such materials might be drawn the most complete county histories." Accordingly, a little system of rural philosophy has been founded upon the best of all bases, home-observation, and such books as have resulted from these labours, promise to make the study of Nature more popular than will all the Zoological, Botanical, and Geological Societies of Europe. Among these works we include the cheap reprint of the Natural History of Selborne; Mr. Rennie's delightful observations which are scattered through the Zoological volumes of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge; but more especially the Journal of a Naturalist, published by Mr. Leonard Knapp, about three years since, and stated by the author to have originated in his admiration of Mr. White's Selborne. The volume before us is the result of a congenial feeling, and is written by Edward Jesse, Esq., deputy surveyor of his majesty's parks, by means of which appointment he must have possessed peculiar opportunities and facilities of observation, as is evident in the local recollections throughout his volume. Thus, we find miscellaneous particulars of the Royal Parks and Forests, and from the writer's residence on the bank of the Thames, (we conclude, near Bushy Park,) a few Maxims for an Angler. The whole is a very charming melange, with a most discursive arrangement, it is true, but never falling into dulness, or tiring the reader with too minute detail. We intend, therefore, to range through the volume, and gather a few of its most interesting gleanings to our garner.

Our author thinks he has discovered the use for the remarkable and, indeed, what appears disproportionate length, of the

Claws of the Skylark

"That they were not intended to enable the bird to search the earth for food, or to fix itself more securely on the branches of trees, is evident, as they neither scratch the ground nor roost on trees. The lark makes its nest generally in grass fields, where it is liable to be injured either by cattle grazing over it, or by the mower. In case of alarm from either these or other causes, the parent birds remove their eggs, by means of their long claws, to a place of greater security; and this transportation I have observed to be effected in a very short space of time. By placing a lark's egg, which is rather large in proportion to the size of the bird, in the foot, and then drawing the claws over it, you will perceive that they are of sufficient length to secure the egg firmly, and by this means the bird is enabled to convey its eggs to another place, where she can sit upon and hatch them. When one of my mowers first told me that he had observed the fact, I was somewhat disinclined to credit it; but I have since ascertained it beyond a doubt, and now mention it as another strong proof of that order in the economy of Nature, by means of which this affectionate bird is enabled to secure its forthcoming offspring. I call it affectionate, because few birds show a stronger attachment to their young."

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The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 543, Saturday, April 21, 1832.

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PRICE OF TEA

(To the Editor.)

THE NATURALIST

GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY

Claws of the Skylark

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