160 ANNUAL MEETING — LORD LILFORD's ADDRESS. 



might be greatly enlarged ; but I think that these skins form a fairly 

 representative collection of our resident species, with a few migrants 

 and occasional visitors. In thus expressing myself, I must say that our 

 summer visitors are very scantily represented in this collection, and 

 Ornithologists who examine it will pei'baps be surprised at the absence of 

 many of our commoner birds. The reasons for these absences are my 

 great objection to destroying our summer visitors, all of wbich are 

 ornamental, many of them musical, and most of them extremely useful. 

 This objection on my part applies also to our commoner resident birds ; 

 for I say to myself, wbat is the use of taking the life of a bird whose 

 habits may be studied, so to speak, at one's door, or in everyday walks or 

 rides. In the case of what we call rare birds the above objections apply 

 still more forcibly, especially for this reason— that many species common 

 on the continent of Europe are now rare in England, simply and solely 

 because they are not allowed to exist here ; several of such birds, at 

 least, if left unmolested, would, I firmly believe, become common, breed, 

 and establish themselves amongst us, do no appreciable harm, and add 

 vastly to tbe enjoyment and interest of the country walks of all rational 

 beings. The difficulty here arises in the question how local collections 

 of birds are to be rendered complete without the destruction of 

 the uncommon birds aforesaid. The question is a perfectly fair one, and 

 not a very easy one to answer. The suggestion that I would offer is, 

 to make our collection as complete as possible of birds actually obtained 

 in our district, by beginning with our common species, whose loss will 

 be imperceptible, and, in a few special instances, advantageous to 

 certain classes of the community ; to represent our less common species 

 by foreign specimens ; above all, never to offer money for so-called rare 

 birds ; to trust to the liberality of those who may and do not share our, 

 perhaps, I should say my, feelings on this subject, and who are inclined 

 to favour us with sucb specimens as they unfortunately kill, and to 

 keep an accurate and circumstantial record of all occurrences relating 

 to this branch of science. On this subject I may, perhaps, be allowed to 

 read two letters which have lately appeared in the Field, one from my 

 friend, Captain Clark-Kennedy, and the other from myself :— 



" Naturalists and the Wild Birds Act. 



" It is only a week since I wrote you word of the occurrence of a 

 Black-winged Stilt in the marshes near Eastbourne, in Sussex, where I 

 am temporarily residing. I saw the bird witbin a few yards of the spot 

 where I was standing, and therefore was easily enabled to identify it with 

 absolute certainty, especially as I am well acquainted with the bird, and 

 have observed its habits, flight, and domestic economy generally in 

 Africa and Northern Asia. Now, I have invariably made it a rule to 

 record, either in your columns or in those of the ' Zoologist,' the fact of any 

 rare bird's appearance in this country ; and this I think any Ornithologist 

 is bound to do, for the benefit of his brother naturalists in general, and 

 for the advancement of the study of Ornithology in particular. We all 

 know, of course, that no sooner is any account published of a scarce 

 bird's occurrence in this country, than all those who think they can turn 

 an honest (?) penny by killing it (and afterwards selling it to the highest 

 bidder if possible] at once search for the unfortunate bird throughout 



