1903 Rutland Birds 47 



the Warblers generally abound in every covert. It would be 

 interesting to estimate their numbers, but it is impossible. 

 For instance, in respect to the Linnets alone, every patch of 

 gorse may be expected to have a nest to every three bushes, 

 and each nest has five eggs. There may be thirty patches of 

 gorse in a radius of four miles, with (say) 150 nests in 

 these and 500 young that come to maturity. It is easier 

 to make a guess at the numbers of another more important 

 bird, the Nightingale. Three or four pairs build yearly in 

 the town of Uppingham itself, and there will probably be 

 100 pairs in the immediate neighbourhood. 



Among the causes of increase in our birds, besides the 

 causes already mentioned, such as the shelter afforded by 

 game - preserves, and the Bird Protection Acts, and the 

 actual introduction of new species, there is undoubtedly the 

 spread of a general knowledge of birds and a greater interest 

 in them. More people know a hawk from a hernshaw than 

 used to. 



A few words, in conclusion, about the Birds Protection 

 Acts. These have been drawn up and enforced on radically 

 wrong principles. They are at present most confused and 

 confusing. There is one schedule for birds protected, an- 

 other for eggs. Then each county has a different set of 

 both. In these lists birds appear which are never seen in 

 that particular county, sometimes that are never seen in 

 England. The same birds also appear under different names 

 in the same list. Again, the penalty, when it is enforced 

 (which is seldom), is ludicrously inadequate, and the offender 

 is allowed to keep the bird. Say he shoots an osprey. He 

 is fined 5s. and sells the bird for £2. The only satisfactory 

 plan would be to ask the ornithological authorities to draw 

 up a list of birds that do not require protection, such as the 

 Sparrow, Sparrow-Hawk, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, 

 Magpie, and Jay. Forbid every other bird to be shot or 

 molested in breeding-time, with a possible exception in the 

 case of Plover's eggs, which might be taken up to a certain 

 date. Birds like Larks should not be killed at any time. 

 But in order to make this protection effective the liberty of 

 the landowners on their own estates would have to be cur- 

 tailed — there's the rub ! It is useless to forbid the ordinary 



