EXOTIC BIRDS FOR BRITAIN 141 



encouraging fact ; but the question that concerns 

 us at present is the feasibility of importing birds of 

 the grove, chiefly of the passerine order, and sending 

 them forth to give a greater variety and richness to 

 our bird life. To go with such an object to tropical 

 countries would only be to court failure. Nature's 

 highest types, surpassing all others in exquisite 

 beauty of form, brilliant colouring, and perfect 

 melody, can never be known to our woods and 

 groves. These rarest avian gems may not be removed 

 from their setting, and to those who desire to know 

 them in their unimaginable lustre, it will always be 

 necessary to cross oceans and penetrate into remote 

 wildernesses. We must go rather to regions where 

 the conditions of life are hard, where winters are 

 long and often severe, where Nature is not gener- 

 ous in the matter of food, and the mouths are 

 many, and the competition great. Nor even from 

 such regions could we take any strictly migratory 

 species with any prospect of success. Still, limit- 

 ing ourselves to the resident, and consequently to 

 the hardiest kinds, and to those possessing only 

 a partial migration, it is surprising to find how many 

 there are to choose from, how many are charming 

 melodists, and how many have the bright tints in 

 which our native species are so sadly lacking. The 

 field from which the supply can be drawn is very 

 extensive, and includes the continent of Europe, 



