of taking an Ornithological Census. 195 



it. It is a pretty general belief among those who have to do with 

 game, that there are few, if any, manors which, one year with 

 another, will yield the gun a bird to the acre; on the other 

 hand, in the majority of cases the proportion will not be anything 

 like as large : so that, admitting the truth of each of these hypo- 

 theses, their combination serves to show that in no one species of 

 bird in England do the numbers reach one to an acre ; and thus, 

 though on very unsatisfactory grounds, do we obtain a limit in 

 one direction of the ornithological population of this country. 



As regards reducing to practice any of the suggestions I have 

 here mooted, I also desire to speak with great diffidence. I may 

 on a future occasion have to detail a method of recording obser- 

 vations, which during some years has been followed by my brother 

 and myself, and which, though not originally begun with any 

 such design as that here advocated, still would undoubtedly 

 furnish means of determining many points in connexion with an 

 ornithological census. It seems to me, however, that materials 

 for attaining the end I seek already exist, as regards at least one 

 species, to a considerable extent. I allude to the " Game Books " 

 which are now so commonly kept on different manors; and I think 

 that nothing but a little ordinary care in applying the results to 

 be obtained from a somewhat general inspection of these useful 

 registers would furnish a sufficiently accurate return as far as 

 relates to the Grey Partridge. No doubt many proprietors might 

 evince a disinclination to submit such valuable records to be 

 examined by a stranger ; but much of this might also be overcome 

 by the tact of the ornithological statistician, who could with good 

 reason urge that, by the comparison of local registers of this 

 description, he would from them very possibly supply preservers 

 of game with many deductions of a highly important nature. 

 For from an extended examination of such books, or abstracts of 

 books, it is not unreasonable to suppose that he would be enabled 

 to tender many recommendations worthy of attention. He would 

 be in a position to state, with authority in proportion to the 

 amount of information communicated to him, in what districts 

 it would be possible, and in what districts impossible to increase 

 the stock ; and in the former case he would at least be able to 

 give advice as to the means whereby the wished-for result might 



