158 PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



condemned very strongly the shooting of birds of prey 

 in the autumn. Many of the Kites and Ospreys that fall 

 victims to the August gunner are (or were) birds that 

 had been reared in Britain, and if unmolested would 

 probably return to breed in the following year. 



In spite of his enthusiasm for bird-protection Newton, 

 always had a very strong sympathy with the true egg- 

 collector, which must have become evident from the 

 preceding pages. From his earliest years he had been 

 a keen collector of eggs, and later he tells how in one 

 day in April, 1861, he took two nests of the Golden 

 Eagle in Scotland, " crawling up hill with two sticks." 

 He was always essentially an out-of-doors man, and, 

 in spite of his lameness he managed to cover the country 

 in a wonderful way. A correspondent writes : 



On October 14, 1874, Mr. John Henry Gurney, his 

 son ( J. H. G.), Professor Newton, and I saw a Swift flying 

 round Cromer Church tower : six Ring Dotterel at 

 Northrepps. At this time, as we walked across country, 

 the Professor declined any help in crossing a hedge, but 

 instantly threw his crutches (sticks) over it and pitched 

 himself through it so as to alight on his shoulder (or 

 head, arms, and shoulder). He seemed expert in going 

 through without scratch or hurt, in spite of his lameness. 



To the end of his life he sympathised with the egg- 

 collector who was also a naturalist, but he realised fully 

 the limitations of egg-collecting pure and simple. 



I am afraid I may fall somewhat in your estimation 

 when I tell you that I don't suppose I shall ever again 

 be able to take the interest in eggs that I did before I 

 finished my Catalogue. I hope never to lose it, but one 

 can't help finding that there are many other branches 

 of Ornithology which are really more important, though 

 I will never yield to any one in maintaining that there 

 is nothing like bird's-nesting for bringing you into contact 



