21() Pictures of Bird Life 



string, is (jiiite unique and characteristic, and, once heard, 

 can never be mistaken. Tlie eggs are very faintly streaked 

 with fine Hues instead of spots, and are thus different in 

 appearance from the eggs of tlie other Tits. 



These birds have suffered so mucli from the marslmien, in 

 the interest of collectors and dealers, tliat it is to be hoped 

 they will be accorded a more effectual protection in the 

 near future, before they are quite wiped out. (I wonder 

 how many clutches have been taken by Joshua Xudd alone !) 

 Tlie present laws are a complete failure, simply because 

 nobody takes the slightest notice of them. The area over 

 which the Bearded Tit is to be foimd is so restricted that 

 the species is in imminent danger of speedy extinction. 

 The wonder is, not that there are so few left, but that 

 there are any at all, considering how unmercifidly the eggs 

 ha\'e been taken, and how perfectly easy it is for anybody 

 to shoot them. 



But the Harriers are in a nmch worse plight than the 

 Bearded Tits. The Hen-harrier has quite gone, none having 

 nested now for many years ; the JNIarsh-harrier has almost 

 gone (the last nest was in 1899, but both birds were 

 trapped) ; Montague's Harrier still lingers, and on rare 

 occasions a brood of young are hatched, but seldom reach 

 maturity ; and in a few years this fine species will be 

 numbered with those of other days, and no more will the 

 sight of it quartering the marsh delight the bird-lover. 



It was therefore a great pleasure to be able to photo- 

 graph a nest of four eggs, though the pleasure was discounted 



