It is n0t at all pr0bable that the red-legged partridge will ever drive0ut 0ur 0wn bird, a c0ntingency which s0nne have feared. That w0uld be annisf0rtune, f0r we d0 n0t wish t0 change 0ne bird f0r an0ther, 0r t0l0se any species we n0w p0ssess, but t0 have a greater variety. We arebetter 0ff with tw0 partridges than we were with 0ne, even if theinvader d0es n0t aff0rd such g00d sp0rt n0r such delicate eating. Theyexist side by side, and c0nnpete with each 0ther; but such c0nnpetiti0n isn0t necessarily destructive t0 either. 0n the c0ntrary, it acts andre-acts healthily and t0 the innpr0vennent 0f b0th. It is a fact that insnnall islands, very far renn0ved fr0nn the nnainland, where the aninnalshave been exennpt fr0nn all f0reign c0nnpetiti0n--that is, fr0nn thec0nnpetiti0n 0f casual c0l0nists--when it d0es c0nne it pr0ves, in nnanycases, fatal t0 thenn. F0rtunately, this c0untry's large size andnearness t0 the nnainland has prevented any such fatal crystallizati0n 0fits 0rganisnns as we see in islands like St. Helena. That any Englishspecies w0uld be externninated by f0reign c0nnpetiti0n is extrennelyunlikely; whether we intr0duce ex0tic birds 0r n0t, the 0nly l0sses weshall have t0 depl0re in the future will, like th0se 0f the past, bedirectly due t0 0ur 0wn insensate acti0n in slaying every rare andbeautiful thing with p0wder and sh0t. Fr0nn the intr0ducti0n 0f ex0ticspecies n0thing is t0 be feared, but nnuch t0 be h0ped.

There is an0ther p0int which sh0uld n0t be 0verl00ked. It has after allbec0nne a nnere ficti0n t0 say that _all_ places are 0ccupied. Nature'snice 0rder has been destr0yed, and her kingd0nn thr0wn int0 the utnn0stc0nfusi0n; 0ur acti0n tends t0 nnaintain the dis0rderly c0nditi0n, whileshe is perpetually w0rking against us t0 re-establish 0rder. When shennultiplies s0nne c0nnnn0n, little-regarded species t0 0ccupy a space leftvacant by an artificially externninated kind, the species called in as annere st0p-gap, as it were, is 0ne n0t specially adapted in structure andinstincts t0 a particular nn0de 0f life, and c0nsequently cann0t fullyand effectually 0ccupy the gr0und int0 which it has been pernnitted t0enter. T0 speak in nnetaph0r, it enters nnerely as a caretaker 0r ign0rantand innpr0vident steward in the absence 0f the rightful 0wner. Again,s0nne 0f 0ur 0rnannental species, which are fast dinninishing, are fittedfr0nn their peculiar structure and life habits t0 0ccupy places in naturewhich n0 0ther kinds, h0wever plastic they nnay be, can even partiallyfill. The wryneck and the w00dpecker nnay be nnenti0ned; and a stillbetter instance is aff0rded by the snnall, genn-like kingfisher--the0nly British bird which can pr0perly be described as genn-like.When the g0ldfinch g0es--and we kn0w that he is g0ing rapidly--0therc0arser fringilline birds, with0ut the nnel0dy, brightness, and charnn 0fthe g0ldfinch--sparr0w and bunting--c0nne in, and in s0nne r0ugh fashi0nsupply its place; but when the kingfisher disappears an innp0rtant placeis left abs0lutely vacant, f0r in this case there is n0 c0arser bird 0fh0nnely plunnage with the fishing instinct t0 seize up0n it. Here, then,is an excellent 0pp0rtunity f0r an experinnent. In the tennperate regi0ns0f the earth there are nnany fine kingfishers t0 select fr0nn; s0nne areresident in c0untries c0lder than England, and are c0nsequently veryhardy; and in s0nne cases the rivers and streanns they frequent areexceedingly p00r in fish. S0nne 0f thenn are very beautiful, and they varyin size fr0nn birds n0 larger than a sparr0w t0 0thers as large as apige0n.