6 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Barnhourie Bank and the Robin Rigg would hardly escape 

 many hours from being stranded on one or other of the 

 numerous sandbanks that stretch for hundreds of thousands 

 of acres in every direction, when the surges that swell up with 

 the famous tidal flow of old Solway have once more ebbed 

 again with equal swiftness back into the Irish Channel. 



DESTRUCTION OF WILD BIRDS' EGGS, AND 

 EGG-COLLECTING. 



By Lieut. -Colonel W. H. M. DUTHIE, R.A. 



IT is gratifying to learn from Mr. Knubley's interesting 

 paper in the " Annals " of last October, that some well 

 known members of the British Association have taken up 

 the subject of the destruction of wild birds' eggs, and are 

 considering the question, whether legislative measures should 

 be recommended for their protection. 



There is evidently no time to be lost if we wish to pre- 

 serve as breeders in the British Isles some of our fast dimin- 

 ishing species ; and it seems to be the duty of our Natural 

 History Societies and Field Clubs throughout the country to 

 use their utmost endeavours to educate and interest the 

 public within their several spheres of influence, and thus 

 co-operate with the British Association in its laudable efforts 

 to stem the tide of egg-destruction which has set in. 



In seeking for the cause of the mischief complained of, 

 we naturally turn our attention, first of all, to the egg- 

 collectors, all of whom, in a greater or less degree, must be held 

 responsible ; and we feel sure that if they could be reason- 

 ably controlled, there would be little left for the British 

 Association to do. 



There are three kinds of collectors who require to be 

 specially dealt with, viz. the Aimless, the Greedy, and the 

 Mercenary Collector. 



The Aimless Collector should be discouraged. He is 

 generally a person who knows little or nothing about birds 

 or their habits. His collection is an accumulation of un- 



