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From Ferdinand von Mueller to Clement Hodgkinson   13 Feb 1862

Melbourne bot. Garden,

13 Febr. 62.

Dear Sir.

I regard it my duty to bring under your notice that many hawk are observed in the suburban parks and reserves and that it will not be possible for me to protect the liberated singing birds, which are becoming numerous in this garden, if these rapacious birds are not as far as ever possible destroyed in the environs of the city.

Convinced that you will gladly second the efforts of the Acclimation Society to naturalize the English Songbirds,1 I beg to solicit, that you will instruct the park keepers under your control to destroy any hawks coming within their reach and to provide them with the necessary means for the purpose.2

I remain, my dear Mr Hodgkinson,

your attached

Ferd. Mueller

Clem. Hodgkinson Esq

&c &c &c

1

See Maroske & Gilfedder (1994).

2

See also M to the Editor of the Argus, 6 February 1862, in which M states that as far as possible protection was afforded to birds liberated in the Botanic Garden.

Please cite as “FVM-62-02-13,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/62-02-13