Evenings were often taken up with lectures. It was not unusual for Hosking to give 100 or more in a year, to audiences ranging from three to 3,000. During his lecturing career, many tens of thousands of people were entertained with lantern slides of British bird life. The many comments made by people from Hosking's generation suggest that this form of education had a profound effect on many, some of whom went on to establish the broad spectrum of modern conservation.