INTRODUCTION. 1 5 



that Gulls or other birds were damaging the fishing industry 

 has been used as a stalking-horse by some who wished really 

 to obtain relaxation of the protective laws. 



Feather-wearing, thoughtless women are the worst enemies of 

 many species, though the trade in feathers is largely of imports. 

 There are laws framed to regulate and restrict the feather 

 trade, but until these are international the destruction of birds 

 will continue. No plume-bearing Herons breed in Britain, but 

 Gulls, Terns and other species are still slain for hat-decoration. 

 Before 1880 the Great Crested Grebe had in many places been 

 exterminated, so high was the price to be obtained for its 

 glossy, waterproof breast. Kingfishers were slain for their 

 plumage, but usually for house-decoration — stuffed and stuck 

 under a glass shade — though before they were protected they 

 were sometimes worn. I have seen a woman with practically 

 the whole skin of a Barn-Owl formed into a hat, perfectly 

 oblivious of the fact that she was parading a specially protected 

 bird. Whose business was it to interfere ? Some meddlesome 

 outsider like myself, who would have been told that she did not 

 know that it was protected, or that it was shot abroad, or had 

 died a natural death 1 I have seen a dead Barn-Owl hanging 

 in a poulterer's shop to call attention to his v/indow ; when I 

 spoke to the man he pleaded ignorance and took the bird 

 away. 



The farmer is one of the worst enemies of birds. He seldom 

 heeds the advice of those who strive to point out that certain 

 birds are his best friends ; he has his own ideas, usually those 

 of his father and grandfather, and the birds. Rook, Starling or 

 Lark, must suffer. The Board of Agriculture leaflets are little 

 read ; the farmer thinks he knows better than the trained 

 scientist. 



The real lover of birds looks upon them as something entirely 

 apart from economic value ; he desires to preserve birds, not 

 because they are beautiful and please the eye and ear, nor 



