60 



Bird Notes and News 



British breeding species exists is about 

 all that can be said ; but if adequate 

 help is forthcoming, it ought to be possible 

 to save this splendid bird, which in olden 

 days was common in the streets of 

 London, but whose nests in Great Britain 

 can now be counted on the fingers of 

 one hand. 



"In 1921 three Kite families were 

 safely reared, and in 1922 there was 

 good hope of there being an addition to 

 this number ; but disaster befell one nest, 

 owing to photographic persistence and 

 enthusiasm, as the parent bird was 

 frightened and remained too long away, 

 and the young died of cold and exposure. 

 Great pressure had been brought to bear 

 upon the Watchers' Committee to grant 

 facilities to the photographer and against 

 their better judgment a permit was re- 

 luctantly given to the well-known bird 

 lover and naturalist for whom it was 

 sought. Notwithstanding this set-back 

 it is the intention of the Watchers' 

 Committee to continue the protection of 

 the Kites, and extra precautions will 

 next year be taken if subscribers to the 

 Watchers' Fund will make sufficiently 

 generous contributions to meet the in- 

 creased expenditure." 



The difficulties of the task are in- 

 creased by the death in August, 1922, 

 of the Rev. D. Edmondes Owen, who 

 for many years had superintended the 

 work locally. 



The Choughs hold their own and that, 

 if not eminently satisfactory, is many 

 degrees better than extirpation. " This 

 interesting and extremely handsome 

 bird," wrote Mr. Hudson, 25 years ago, 

 " has been diminishing in numbers for 

 a long period, and it is now become so 

 rare that, unless strong measures to 

 secure its protection be at once taken, 

 its eventual extinction in this country 

 must be regarded as merely a question 

 of time." Writing in 1922 to the 

 Watchers' Committee, the Rev. Percival 

 Pott expresses the opinion, from 30 

 years' study of the Cornish coast, that 

 they have increased, though but slightly, 

 in recent years, "an increase attributable, 

 without doubt, to the good work of the 



Bird Protection Society and its Watchers." 



" But it must be admitted that the increase 

 is very slight and out of all proportion to the 

 number of young hatched out annually. 



" . . . Perhaps the well-known quarrel- 

 someness of the Chough, especially during the 

 breeding season, coupled with its excessive 

 fastidiousness in the selection of a building 

 site, may account for a good deal. And to 

 this has to be added the depredations of 

 other birds and a very considerable mortality 

 occasioned by rabbit traps." 



A second Watcher has been found 

 necessary on this coast, and two new 

 ones at Dungeness to safeguard the 

 Kentish Plovers and other rare species 

 from the collector. In various districts 

 there are other dangers than the human 

 one to hinder progress. Bad weather 

 has often disastrous results, and in the 

 July rainstorms of 1922 no fewer than 

 200 young Common Tern succumbed on 

 Dungeness beach. In the Shetlands and 

 Orkneys the birds suffered somewhat less 

 from the absence of summer, but the 

 Watcher's new Hut on Hermaness was 

 rendered the more essential ; " the tame 

 Richardson Skuas were a bit shy of it 

 at first," writes Mr. Edwardson, " but 

 soon made themselves at home." 



Lighthouses 



The Bird-Rests at the Lighthouses 

 have proved more expensive than usual, 

 thus delaying the hope of erecting others 

 at Bardsey. In 1921 £70 had to be ex- 

 pended at the Spurn Lighthouse, where 

 the perches had been damaged beyond 

 repair by heavy seas, and at the South 

 Bishop Lighthouse four dozen of the 

 perches had to be renewed. At St. 

 Catherine's renovations had to be under- 

 taken after the autumn migrations of 

 1921, and the lower perches round the 

 gallery at the Caskets had to be renewed 

 in the spring of 1922. It will thus be 

 seen that at all four Lighthouses extra 

 expense has been incurred, in addition 

 to the regular cost for Spring and Autumn 

 erection and dismantling of the bird- 

 saving apparatus. 



" The reports from the Light-keepers, of the 

 numbers of birds and the variety of species 



