HERTFORDSHIRE ORNITHOLOGY. 
27 
It would naturally be expected that during those early years in 
which the register of birds was being prepared, there must have 
been a large number of new records to make, every bird when first 
recorded, however common, being for the purposes of registration 
new to the county. And thus it comes about that during the first 
ten years, 1878-87, the fine total of 200 species was placed on the 
register. Up to 1884, when the register included 164 species, 
Mr. Littleboy had added no birds to his list whose presence in the 
county had not been well authenticated since the date at which the 
register was opened, i.e. 1877. In 1885, however, he decided to 
open his register to all well-authenticated records of Hertfordshire 
birds, irrespective of date, and thanks mainly to a list of 20 species 
supplied to him by the Hon. Walter Rothschild as having been 
recorded at the Tring Reservoirs, the number rose from 164 in 
1884 to 200 in 1887. Since the latter date only 17 species have 
been added to the list, viz., one in 1888, none in 1889, 1890, and 
1891, three in 1892, two in 1893, none in 1894, three in 1895, 
four in 1896, two in 1897, one in 1898, none in 1899 and 1900, 
and one in 1901. The total, therefore, now stands at 217, and 
I am pleased to be able to add two species to-night, which will raise 
it to 219. I think it will be manifest to everyone that we cannot 
hope to go much beyond this. Consider for a moment. The 
official list of birds prepared by the British Ornithologists’ Union 
contains the names of 384 species which for one reason or another 
may be called British birds—some of them, it must be admitted, on 
the very slender grounds of courtesy only. Mr. Howard Saunders, 
in the second (and latest) edition of his ‘ Manual of British Birds,’ 
states that of this number 199 are said to have bred in the British 
Isles, and that in addition there are 45 species that regularly 
migrate to our Islands during the colder weather. This gives 
a total of 244 species that, I think it will be admitted, have a good 
claim to a place in the British list. The remaining 140 include 
66 species that are more or less infrequent visitors, and 74 species 
that have been recorded as visiting our Islands less than six times. 
Turning now to the Herts list, I have previously mentioned that, 
including the two species now added, the total number recorded 
is 219. 
Let me remark in passing that Mr. A. P. Crossman in 1898 com¬ 
piled and published in the ‘ Transactions ’ the full list of recorded 
species, which at that time numbered 216. On reference to the 
official list, also compiled by Mr. Crossman, in vol. i of the 
recently-published ‘Victoria History of Hertfordshire,’ it will be 
seen that only 210 species are recorded, the following six being 
omitted:—The great reed-warbler (A crocephalusturduides), American 
red-winged starling ( Agelceus phceniceus ), Canada goose ( Bernida 
canadensis ), Polish swan ( Cygnus immutabilis), North American 
summer duck ( Aix sponsa ), Virginian colin ( Ortyx virgimanus). 
Doubtless Mr. Crossman was of opinion that the recorded visits 
of these species were open to question, or that in some cases they 
were only escaped, rather than truly wild species. 
