294 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



and interesting type of bird as the Penguin is 

 should be so wantonly and brutally destroyed. 

 But we fear that the weight of British protest is 

 considerably lessened, when we know that a whole 

 community of Penguins was exterminated by the 

 crew of an English man-of-war engaged upon a 

 scientific expedition to Kerguelen Island ; boiled 

 down to provide " hare soup " for the officers of 

 Her Majesty's ship Volage I It may be urged that 

 Penguins are yet common enough ; but we are by 

 no means certain that this is the case respecting 

 some species, and no bird, no species, can survive 

 long such inhuman massacre. It is interesting to 

 remark that in places where birds are judiciously 

 killed for food or feathers, or their eggs system- 

 atically collected, they do not appear to suffer to any 

 serious extent. We have only to point to the vast 

 bird colonies of St. Kilda and Iceland, for instance, 

 to confirm these remarks. In St. Kilda the seventy 

 or more people that reside there live upon birds, 

 the egg and bird harvest being gathered every 

 year, with no apparent injurious eifect upon the 

 various species congregating there. This has been 

 going on for many years; but the natives are 

 sensible enough to let their birds enjoy aldose 

 time," when they are left in peace to propagate 



