It is thus addressed more to the aviculturist than to the strict ornithologist, though the division between these two students is very difficult to maintain. A live bird must necessarily afford more information than a preserved skin; on the other hand, the opportunities of acquiring the first are infinitesimal compared with the vast available material of the second. Consequently we must look to the cabinet ornithologist for our general knowledge, and to the field naturalist and the aviculturist for bionomical information. Mr. Finn has provided an excellent help to those who wish to keep waterfowl—we must plead guilty to a strong dislike of the word "Fancy"; and his knowledge of zoology and position in the Indian Museum entitle him to write as one in authority, and not as the "Fanciers."
This is the first instalment of a series of monographs relating to Church Stretton, of which those on Botany, Archæology, Climatology, and Ornithology are in preparation, and will appear subsequently.
This neighbourhood was described by J.G. Jeffreys as "the picturesque locality of Stretton in Shropshire"; and Mr. Newnham refers to it as "a district of hill and dale, of moorland, wood, and stream." Consequently it is a spot worthy of a local natural historian, and when a body of naturalists unite to describe its fauna, flora, geology, and other natural features, and do so in an exhaustive manner, we recognize a very useful addition to British natural history.
