Thorpe Mtre 13 



Supposing it were possible, and that every Knot that ht un our 

 shores between August tlie twentieth and October the first, were 

 shot on arrival. I do not tliink that this ajjparently enormous loss 

 would make the smallest impression on the numbers which would 

 arrive the following year, or years. The loss of Wading (as of other) 

 lairds each year on migration is enormous ; but of this great total, 

 j)robabl\- not one in a thousand is caused by the shot-gun. 



And, as far as autumn collecting is concerned, shooting, when 

 combined with observing, seems to me to be perfectly fair and proper 

 — your obser\ations are confirmed or corrected, you have the skin 

 for study and as a permanent record, and, lastly, if the bird is not 

 wanted for preservation as a specimen, it is almost sure to be excellent 

 eating. A good fat Knot, shot in December, and rapidly roasted 

 (not overdone) with his trail complete, like a snipe, and served on 

 toast is, in my opinion, a dish hard to beat. 



If good and careful note-taking with a glass pleases better, 

 I have nothing to say against it, except that, in the case of a beginner, 

 such notes are of no value as records of facts, even with the common 

 Waders ; and as regards the really rare Waders, I should be very 

 much disinclined to accept a field-glass view of, say, a Broad-billed 

 or Pectoral Sandpiper as an accepted fact, even if it w-ere authorized 

 on the faith of some distinguished field ornithologist. The old adage, 

 " What's hit is history, and what's missed is mystery," is perhaps 

 truer in ornithology than in any other branch of Natural History. 

 The inhospitality of shooting the chance (and rare) vvahderer the 

 moment he lights on our shores, is not really a very strong argument 

 against doing so, if you are prepared to shoot the snipe who has his 

 home with us. Probably not one-fourth, possibly not one-tenth, 

 of those rare Waders that do land on our shores are ever seen ; 

 they are out of their " course," are too liable to disaster in their 

 unaccustomed hue of migration, to have much chance of striking 

 the old nurser}^ ; and, if they happened to strike it, would find them.- 

 selves but one of the many thousands of their species. Take again 

 the Broad-billed Sandpiper, that is so rare with us, and is so common 

 in its own countries. Sparing one bird, will, of course, not lead to 

 its breeding in England, or outside the Arctic circle. This particular 

 bird will have a far riskier passage to reach the breeding-ground 

 or the autumn-winter feeding-ground, than one following the normal 

 line of flight, and if it reaches them in safety, will be but a unit in 

 a countless host. 



There are birds which deserve every possible protection that 

 can be afforded them. Take as examples the Golden Oriole and 

 the Hoopoe, neither very rare, but both so showy and distinctive in 

 plumage that they are seldom allowed to live long after landing on 

 our shores. Yet, both these beautiful birds breed freely on the other 

 side of the English Channel, have nested in this country many times, 

 and would certainly become habitual summer residents here, if 

 they were given protection from their human enemies during the 



