President's Address. 141 



evidence that the year 1905 will be a notable one, as far as 

 the ornithological collection of the British Museum is 

 concerned. 



The above is a somewhat rough sketch of the progress and 

 development of our bird-collection in the British Museum, and 

 is merely intended to indicate some of the principal 

 acquisitions by which the National collection has increased 

 during the last fifty years. Further details will be found in 

 the forthcoming second volume of the 'History of the 

 Collections in the British Museum,' which is about to be 

 issued by the Trustees. 



It would be a good thing for Ornithology, in my opinion, 

 if a history of the Natural History collections in every great 

 museum of the world could be written by the officers in 

 charge of those museums. How interesting would be the 

 details of the collections in the Paris Museum, for instance, 

 with the notes concerning D'Orbigny, Castelnau, J. and E. 

 Verreaux, Abbé David, and all the other naturalists who 

 have made that museum celebrated. I commend to my 

 colleagues the idea that they should each write the history of 

 the ornithological collections in the museums in which they 

 hold office. They will find the task intolerably irksome and 

 tedious. Experto crede! But, on the other hand, I firmly 

 believe that they will earn the gratitude of their fellows both 

 now and in the generations to come. Each year the writing 

 of a history of the ornithological collection in any public 

 or private museum becomes more and more difficult. One 

 does not get younger, and the number of the friends and 

 acquaintances of our youth diminishes as time goes on. 

 It is, therefore, to me a plain duty that, while we yet live, 

 we should endeavour to record the experiences of that great 

 body of ornithologists who have helped to make the history 

 of our science, and whose experiences and life-history may 

 still be within our reach. 



It remains but to thank you all, ladies and gentlemen, for 

 your kind attendance here to-day. I thank you, my old 

 friend and colleague for the past forty years, Professor 

 Oustalet, my predecessor in the chair, for the kindly senti- 

 ments you have expressed in conducting me into the high 

 position which I am proud to occupy to-day. It is a great 



