EXOTIC BIRDS FOR BRITAIN 169 



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, the countries of North 

 Asia, a large portion of North America and 

 Antarctic America, or South Chili and Patagonia. 

 It would not be going too far to say that for 

 every English species, inhabiting the garden, 

 wood, field, stream, or waste, at least half a dozen 

 resident species, with similar habits, might be 

 obtained from the countries mentioned which 

 would be superior to our own in melody (the 

 nightingale and lark excepted), bright plumage, 

 grace of form, or some other attractive quality. 

 The question then arises; What reason is 

 there for believing that these exotics, imported 

 necessarily in small numbers, would succeed in 

 winning a footing in our country, and become a 

 permanent addition to its avifauna? For it has 

 been admitted that our species are not few, in 

 spite of the losses that have been suffered, and 

 that the bird population does not diminish, how- 

 ever much its character may have altered and 



