PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 
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of the forms of animal life which are now common will either 
become very rare or quite extinct in some districts, making the 
obtaining of specimens almost impossible. This is not to be 
wondered at when we consider the invasion of bricks and 
mortar which has been carried on for so many years, 
obliterating and absorbing so large an extent of our rural 
tracts that, instead of country lanes and hedgerows resound¬ 
ing with the song of birds and hum of insect life, we now 
have paved streets and rows of houses, still resonant, but with 
a music of a totally different kind—a change, in many respects, 
not for the better. Again, the improved communication 
between place and place consequent upon the enormous 
growth of our railway system, far and away greater than the 
loftiest conceptions our forefathers had the slightest idea of, 
has been the means of opening up many quiet haunts, dear to 
the heart of mammal and bird, but also delightful to the 
overworked man of science or artisan of our towns, which 
previously for generations were left unmolested and uncared 
for; but this intrusion has been the cause of driving the 
original denizens further afield to regions still more remote. 
From various sources, such as household books, bills of fare 
of ancient banquets, and the like antiquarian records of a 
bygone age, we find that many birds, now extremely rare, or 
conspicuous by their absence, were formerly common. 
I purpose, therefore, making a few remarks as to the 
probable causes of the decrease of many of our native birds. 
That such is the case, I think no one will dispute; species 
that formerly were abundant, and bred regularly in suitable 
localities, are now only met with as occasional stragglers to 
our shores. It is worthy of remark that those birds whose 
habitat is swampy marsh lands or dense reed beds are the 
least adapted, or at all events give one that impression, to 
accommodate themselves to any altered conditions of life ; 
consequent upon the draining of the fens, many were driven 
from this country and betook themselves to the Dutch 
marshes, where they still remain. It is highly probable that 
our indigenous birds were always being supplemented more 
or less from the opposite coast, therefore it was natural for 
them to leave our uncongenial land for that better suited to 
their requirements, possessing, as many of them would, an 
inherent predisposition to return hither. No one who is 
conversant with the physical geography of our Eastern 
counties could help noticing the alteration that is even now 
going on in still further reducing the area of marsh and fen. 
Two causes are at work to effect this : the increase of pump¬ 
ing mills, and the “existence of the fittest” in the botanical 
