ST. ALBANS AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
243 
was observed in March, both of 1878 and 1879, in a field close 
to Sy monel’s Hyde Wood, Sandridge, and of which the observer 
wrote: “It was, I have no doubt, about to breed, as it is a very 
early nester, but I left too early each year to find the nest.” 
And this is the only known record of the bird for this district 
during thirty-two years! 
Summing up, the following result is obtained :— 
Residents .... 55 species. 
Summer visitors 
Passing migrants . 
Winter visitors 
Casual and irregular visitors 
25 
6 
12 
31 
129 
From the ornithological point of view it is unfortunate that 
there is no large sheet of water (like the reservoirs at Elstree 
and Tring) within the St. Albans district, for with an attraction 
of this kind the number of species visiting the district could not 
fail to be largely increased. 
In conclusion it should be stated that the above lists have 
been very largely compiled from records contained in the 
Annual Reports upon Birds which appear in the ‘ Transactions 
of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society ’ from 1875 to 
1911. Many local recorders have taken part in supplying notes 
for the preparation of these reports, but the Society is particu¬ 
larly indebted to Miss Dickinson, to Mr. A. W. Dickinson (New 
Farm, St. Albans), to Mr. A. E. Gribbs, and to Mr. Henry 
Lewis for their many years’ observation of the bird life of the 
district. 
6. Mammalia. 
In the neighbourhood of St. Albans, as in most parts of 
England, the mammalian fauna is, in point of species, a declining 
one. Divers causes have contributed to this state of things, and 
have operated for centuries, but speaking broadly the changes 
brought about by the growth of population and the consequent 
intensive cultivation of land, and the increasing rigour with 
which the preservation of game—fur, feather, and fin—has been 
practised, have been more potent factors in the status of many 
species than has the internecine war between different forms 
which is involved in the struggle for existence under natural 
conditions. Indeed, it may be said that the mere existence of 
many creatures is incompatible with our modern civilization. 
Since the earliest times wild beasts have been reduced in 
numbers and finally exterminated, but the causes to which I have 
referred have probably operated more stringently on our native 
fauna during the last hundred years than ever before, and such 
has been and is the popular apathy with regard to the matter, 
that species after species has gone under before it was realized 
that they had even become uncommon. The result is, that 
