PROTECTION OF BIRDS 137 



with grim satisfaction that the scourge of his wife's hen- 

 roost had been run into ; or he would willingly at a 

 vestry meeting pass the churchwardens' accounts giving 

 rewards for the destruction of a vixen with her cubs, 

 among other so-called ' vermin." Nowadays, as we 

 know, the British farmer is generally in the " first flight ' 

 of the horsemen, and the Fox has no friend more staunch. 

 Thus it will be seen that an entire change of feeling has 

 been wrought with respect to this species, and a change 

 of the most effectual kind." 



After discussing the causes of the extinction in this 

 country of the Bustard and the Large Copper Butterfly, 

 and mentioning the beneficial results of legislation with 

 regard to Salmon, he pleaded for an effectual measure of 

 protection of Birds of Prey and Sea-fowl. With regard 

 to the former he convinced his audience that the decrease 

 of Hawks has nothing to do with the abundance of game, 

 and that the presence of Owls is absolutely beneficial. 



Now for Sea-fowl and here I must plead guilty to 

 the charge (if it be a charge) of being open to a little bit 

 of sentiment. At the present time I believe there is no 

 class of animals so cruelly persecuted as the sea-fowl 

 which throng to certain portions of our coast in the 

 breeding season. At other times of the year they can 

 take good care of themselves, as every gunner on the 

 coast knows ; but in the breeding season, in fulfilment 

 of the high command to " increase and multiply " they 

 cast off their suspicions and wary habits and come to our 

 shores. No one that I have ever heard of has complained 

 of them as injurious in any way. Some few, as the 

 ' Scoulton Peewits," settle far inland, and their useful- 

 ness as they follow the plough is everywhere recognised. 

 But of the rest I never heard the Willocks or Kittiwakes 

 of the Yorkshire coast accused of raising the price of 

 herrings, sprats, and oysters ! I think we may fairly 

 assume that they are innocuous in every respect. But 

 how do we treat them ? Excursion trains run to convey 



