BROAD FEATURES OF ORNITHOLOGY OF ESSEX. 259
bird-life, starting with Dale's list of about forty species, and
we know today that 281 forms have been identified. To leave
the matter at this point would convey a wrong impression,
for of this total over half, actually 149, are irregular visitors,
some of which are included in the county list on the strength
of one occurrence, and others have appeared at very rare intervals.
The number of birds, therefore, which frequents Essex annually
is a matter of 132, but the total number which occurs at any
given season is probably much less, for only 69 are residents,
i.e. forms which breed and remain throughout the year, 26 are
summer-residents, i.e. migrants which breed, 26 are winter-resi-
dents, i.e. migrants which remain through the winter and the
remaining 11 are passage-migrants, i.e. birds which appear
annually on their way to and from their nesting grounds farther
north. The summer and winter residents overlap to some
extent, but at no time would the full complement of both these
groups be in the county together. The residents and summer
residents form the native avifauna, so that we have about 95
birds which nest regularly. Most of the counties of England
have ornithologies, but unfortunately in many instances they
require bringing up to date, but we are fortunate in this part
of the country in having four neighbouring counties, namely
Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Middlesex, with recent books on
their birds. This condition facilitates a comparison. Norfolk
is said to have 115, Suffolk 108 and the small inland county
of Middlesex 77 regularly nesting birds. The lowness of the
Middlesex figure is probably more attributable to the absence
of a coast and to its proximity to London than to the smallness
of the area. The chief physical differences between Essex
on the one hand and Norfolk and Suffolk on the other are the
400 square miles of Breckland which are shared between the two
counties and those sheets of water, known as Broads, which are
features of both counties, but particularly of Norfolk. I do
not know if its position is in any way a factor, but the north
coast of Norfolk is more remarkable for its bird-life, both
breeding and migratory, than the rest of the coast shared
between the three counties. There is an influence in Norfolk
which is particularly valuable to the birds of the coast, namely
well organised protection, which is completely absent in Essex.