WCP1819

[1]

Holly House, Barking .E.

April 28th.1871

Dear Mr Dresser¹

I ought to have acknowledged the receipt of your letter of 6th Feb. & thanked you for the information it contained, but the fact is, that about that time, I obtained a piece of land I had been trying after for a year & a half, & have ever since been so busy clearing, road making, & planting, & preparing for building a house, that insects, birds, [2] & Geog. distribution have alike been driven out of my head & I have been thinking of nothing else than how to make my own nest as pretty and comfortable as I can.

Would it not be as well if you can spare the time, to put together the valuable information you possess and write a paper on the Geographical distribution [3] of the Birds of Scandinavia & the Northern parts of the Palaearctic Region? It would be very useful to naturalists at in general, & probably also to yourself & Sharpe² in your work on the Birds of Europe.³

I do not expect I shall find time to work at the subject of Geog. Distribution again till the end of Autumn, when I hope to be settled in my new abode.

Believe me | yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

H. E. Dresser Esq.