Starling

I discovered that this spring our office building has been home to a family of starlings. I had watched adults flit about, forage in the rose bushes, feed off dead insects from the radiators of parked cars, and generally was aware of their presence. Until, one day...

I came to the office to discover a dead baby lying just outside the door. I looked upward to see if I could see the nest but couldn't. What looks like bird poop mess down the brickwork, is in fact painters mess down the brickwork.

So Much Book-Wormery

It had long been felt by those who annually examined teachers and pupils for certificates in various branches of science, in the Science & Art Department, that the candidates displayed a sad want of practical acquaintance with the subjects in which they presented themselves for examination; many showed considerable ability and great book knowledge, but a knowledge of the things themselves with which science deals, a proof of personal intercourse with Nature, which after all is the only foundation of scientific knowledge, and without which all the ‘ologies are so much book-wormery, was to a very great extent wanting.

Under the existing state of things it seemed almost impossible to get out of this vicious condition, for the scholars who were in their turn destined to become teachers were for the most part taught by men who were deficient in practical knowledge; and with the increasing demand for science teaching there appeared to be a probability of the evil being increased by the rapid accession of these book-taught students to the position of instructors. The only way to meet this difficulty was to find teachers who had the requisite familiarity with “the solid ground of Nature,” and set them to work to leaven the mass.

Quotation from: E.Ray Lankester, 7 September 1871. 'Instruction to Science Teachers at South Kensington' Nature vol 4, p 361-4.