KINDNESS, AND SYMPATHIES 259 



owners are still permitted to do (in the unconfiscated parts 

 of our possessions) with regard to feathered fowl."^ 



''June ^rJ, 1892. 



" 1 would not altogether prohibit the taking of eggs ; 

 it should be done under expert supervision, as is done on 

 many peewit breeding-places, to the material increase ot 

 healthy birds." - 



"May 24M. 



" I am glad to find that Lord R appears to be 



quite inclined to protect the terns as far as possible ; with 

 regard to his legal rights, I suggested to him, in my reply, 

 the formation of a local association for the protection of 

 these terns during the breeding season, adding that should 

 such an association be formed, I would gladly contribute 

 j^5 annually to its funds.* But what is urgently needed 

 in these special cases is an extension of the close time. 

 There is no season for killing terns at all, but I do not 

 think that even the all-powerful ' Arry ' could effectually 

 resist local extensions of close time if the inhabitants of 

 the localities supported them with vigour. Judicious egg- 

 taking really does little, if any harm to well-stocked bird 

 colonies ; but it is the indiscriminate slaughter of the 



1 To G. Hope, Esq. 



2 To the same. 



* In reference to this correspondence Mr. Hope writes : (July 

 i4tk, 1896), "His aid and suggestions in 1892, though perhaps 

 not recognised, certainly helped to sow the seeds of which the present 

 societies on our East coast are the outcome." 



