20 rATAIMUL'E UF BIRDS. 



Kent and Sussex having become completely changed 

 by the new style of farming and other innovations. 



The never-failing persecution they suffer from 

 dealers and collectors tends also to greatly restrict 

 their numbers. 



The price of four shillings a dozen, which is offered 

 for their eggs, induces the natives of those dreary 

 wastes to search diligently, and but few of the first 

 nests ever escape their sharp eyes. After the reeds 

 get up to a certain height, it is more difficult to make 

 out the whereabouts of the birds, and consequently 

 the later broods escape. No one but a practised hand 

 would ever discover the nests of this species. 



There are, however, in the fen and broad districts, 

 generally a class of men who make a living by egging, 

 gunning, and fishing. This occupation seems to have 

 been handed down from father to son, but I am afraid 

 that, like many of the rarer denizens of the swamps, 

 they will before long be either driven from their 

 quarters, or forced to adopt a new style of life. 



The specimens in tbe case were obtained on 

 Heigham Sounds, in Norfolk, in May, 1870. 



ROBIN.— (Immature.) 



Case 25. 



The juvenile Robins do not assume the dress of the 

 mature birds till after the first moult. 



The specimen on the left side of the case shows a 

 few of the red feathers already appearing on the breast. 



The birds were obtained at Potter Heigham, in 

 Norfolk, in July, 1873. 



