From Leonard Jenyns 12 March 1859

My dear Henslow,

I forgot to write sooner & tell you that the Goatsucker at the Institution, with the two long feathers from the upper wing-coverts is no monstrosity or imposition. It is figured in the 8 ^th vol. Pl.265 of Shaw’s Nat. Miscell., under the name of Caprimulgus longipennis; & described also by Latham as the Leona Goatsucker, coming from Sierra Leone.— The latter author says— “the remarkable circumstance belonging to this singular species is the having a single feather springing out of the middle part of the coverts of each wing,full 20 inc. in length:— this continues as a plain unwebbed shaft for 14¾ inches having a few solitary hairs on the inside only, from thence it expands into a broad web for the remaining 5¼ inches of its length;— the web or blade has almost the whole of its breadth on the inner side, being there more than one inc. broad but very narrow on the outer part of the shaft.”

A day or two back I received from a lady of the name of Miss Molesworth, living at Cobham at Surrey, a Table of Rain Measurements for a long series of back years at that place,— I suppose made by herself. She said in an accompanying note, she sent them at the request of M ^r Henslow. I am much obliged to her & to you for thinking of me in this matter, & the mean of so many years is of considerable value. When you write next, you can perhaps tell me a little more about this meteorological lady: I never heard you mention her name. I wrote to thank her for what she had sent.

I saw Annie on Saturday, & was sorry to find her not quite so well as on former visits, but I daresay she has reported her own case, & I trust it is of no serious import: until she gets stronger, she will necessarily be liable to returns of indisposition.—

I see another Naturalist gone to his rest in M ^r Broderip, whose work, however, “Recreations in Zoology”, I never much admired, the style not being to my taste,-- tho’ its author was a very able as well as estimable man.— With our love to Louisa, now I suppose your only companion at home,

Believe me, | yrs affect ^ly | L. Jenyns

Date of letter inferred from the date of Broderip's death