THE ST. KILDA WREN 105 



which once frequented these Atlantic isles, is 

 certain unless strong measures are taken by the 

 proprietor of the islands for its protection. Many 

 pairs, there can be little doubt, still frequent the 

 uninhabited portion of the group ; so that, if proper 

 steps be taken, we may succeed in saving from 

 extinction so interesting an example of an island 

 race of the familiar Wren. Our discovery seems 

 always clouded with the exterminating results that 

 have followed it, and when we hear of the poor 

 bird's decimation we feel that, in the interests of 

 science, it would have been better had we remained 

 silent. It is sad to think that the publication of 

 such knowledge resulted in absolutely threatening 

 the extirpation of the St. Kilda Wren, and that 

 by calling attention to its differences we have been 

 the unintentional means of its being sacrificed 

 to the greed and selfishness of collectors. We 

 appeal to British naturalists to save this island 

 form of the Common Wren from extirpation, 

 threatened as it is by no other danger than that 

 arising from the mania for possessing its eggs and 

 its skin. The wholesale collecting of specimens by 

 St. Kildans, and by tourists that visit the islands 

 in summer, when the bird is breeding, must be 

 sternly forbidden if the Wren is to be saved. 



