To J. J. Weir   20 May [1869]¹

My dear Sir

I feel that I have a sort of prescriptive right to bother you for information. M^r. 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