To Alfred Newton   30 May [1871]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

May 30th

My dear Prof. Newton

Very many thanks for your facts & correction. The case of the gull must come out.2 Oh Lord how difficult accuracy is! Yesterday we had a letter from Frank, groaning in spirit at the thoughts that it was his last term in Cambridge, which is dear also to me.—3

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin.

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Alfred Newton, 29 May 1871.
2
The reference to the gull is in a missing portion of the letter from Alfred Newton, 29 May 1871. In Descent 2: 108 n. 9, CD reported a case of apparent reasoning in a gull; this was removed in the second edition.
3
The letter from Francis Darwin has not been found. See letter from Alfred Newton, 29 May 1871 and n. 2.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7781,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7781