Marshij Condition of England . 
169 
i 
CHAPTER VIII. 
We must bear in mind when we pass from quadrupeds 
to Birds, how different was the external aspect 
of England in the time of Elizabeth from that 
which it wears to-day. Forests extended for many miles, 
of which now only the name and one or two patriarchal- 
looking trees remain. That marshes stretched far inland 
from the coast, even within sight of the large towns, is 
evident from the frequent reference to ague, low fever, 
and other maladies arising from malaria. Norden writes 
of Essex, in 1593 :— 
“ This shire seemeth to me to deserve the title of the Englishe 
Groshen, the fattest of the lan.de : comparable to Palestina, that floweth 
with milke and hunnye. But I cannot commende the healthfulnes 
of it: and especiallie nere the sea coastes, Rochford, Denge, Tendering 
Hundreds and other lowe places about the creekes, which gave me a 
moste cruell quaterne fever. But the manie and sweete commodities 
countervayle the danger.” 
The same remarks would apply to many inland places. 
Little by little these low-lying districts have been 
drained, and the woods and forests have been cleared. 
This transition must have had more effect on the life of 
birds than on that of quadrupeds. The deer, though 
restricted in their range, had parks set aside for their 
preservation ; laws against their destruction made amends 
for their loss of freedom. Of other wild animals, the fox 
