32 
W. BICKERTON-HERTS ORNITHOLOGY. 
And this life-history is essentially one which can only he written 
from the sum-total of the facts garnered after the most careful, 
patient, and intelligent observation of the bird in all the varied 
aspects of its life and activity. Furthermore, life and the conditions 
of life are not constant, unalterable, and unaltering phenomena. 
On the contrary, they are, as we all know, in a state of perpetual 
flux and flow, and the birds, like all other organisms, are con¬ 
tinually attempting to respond to modifications which are thus 
brought about in themselves and their surroundings. It is therefore 
not too much to say that facts once established by observation 
about a species do not hold good for all time. They must be 
modified by new facts discovered under the conditions I have 
all too briefly mentioned. There is no such thing as finality in 
Nature’s operations or in the laws by which they are regulated. 
Our ornithology—let me say our county ornithology—is therefore 
not worked out, and by the very nature of the case never can be. 
I hope, therefore, that our local observers will not “give up the 
quest” as ended, but will repeat and renew their observations, 
and communicate the same for the information and the interest 
of their fellow-members of the Society. 
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