70 FISH HATCHmG. 



ticularly in ponds and in the river Thames, 



"where they do incalculable mischief to the 

 fisheries, and slay their millions, gobbling up 



the newly-laid spawn with their long beaks 



and spoon-like bills. In 1861, 1 was deputed 



to report, wdth the late lamented Mr. Arthur 



Smith, upon this point, and we sent in a 



report to the British Fisheries Preservation 



Association, recording our actual observations 



of these poachers, taken when they were at 



work, for wdiich purpose we made a voyage 



on the Thames, near Windsor. I myself, 



therefore, am fully convinced of the immensity 



of harm they do to the Thames, but I prefer 



calling other w^itnesses as well, for the subject 



has been well ventilated in " The Field," 



and every year it turns up again about the 



end of April or beginning of May. 



