BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



therefore left in a worse position than before. 

 They were nobody's property; to be " wild " 

 meant to be the victim of ev^ery blundering 

 shot, of every grumbling farmer, of every 

 brutal lout and every cruel school-boy. The 

 law against cruelty, even for domestic 

 animals, had only just crept, abused and 

 jeered at, into existence. 



This state of things lasted until 1869. Two 

 or three years earlier, attention had been 

 drawn to the enormous slaughter of Gulls 

 and other sea-fowl, especially on the east 

 coast, in the height of the breeding season. 

 Frequent excursions were run throughout 

 the summer from Lancashire's large towns, 

 and from London and other centres, to 

 Flamborough Head and the Yorkshire coast 

 generally, and to the Isle of Wight and 

 southern resorts, for the purpose of 

 affording holiday-makers the joy of des- 

 troying harmless Sea-mews, Guillemots, and 

 other birds. In addition to the wanton 

 barbarities of the Cockney sportsman 

 (a phrase which appears to have been 

 invented by Professor Newton), a flourishing 

 trade was done to the order of plume-dealers, 

 who seized the opportunity to obtain 

 goods in the cheapest market ; and 

 women's hats begun to bristle with the 

 wings of Kittiwakes and other birds, killed 

 by the thousand while sitting on their nests 

 or tending their young. It was an early 

 edition of the " Osprey" story, and of the 

 story that is still echoing from the Pacific 

 Islands and other breeding grounds of the 

 " Dominoe " Terns and their white-winged 

 kindred. Among the prime movers in 

 arresting this destruction were Professor 

 Newton and the Rev. F. 0. Morris ; the 

 question was taken up by the British Asso- 

 ciation at their meeting in Norwich in 1868, 

 and an East Riding Association was formed 

 with the object of obtaining an Act for 



the protection of native sea-birds. Mr. 

 Christopher Sykes, Member of Parliament 

 for that Division, was one of the Committee, 

 and, thanks in great measure to his energy, 

 the Bill was passed by the House of 

 Commons, the Duke of Northumberland 

 taking charge of it in the Upper House. 

 The measure did not become law without 

 raising the outcry that the poor man was 

 being deprived of his bread. Sporting trip- 

 pers who sought amusement in winging the 

 birds, the dealers' men who went out with 

 their nets, had to hire local boatmen ; and 

 the boatmen thought they saw their trade 

 gone. 



This Act gave a close time, from April 1st 

 to August 1st, to thirty-three species of sea- 

 birds, and fixed a penalty for killing, wound- 

 ing, or being in possession, at £1 for each 

 bird. The species named were all (with the 

 exception of the Black-backed Gull) trans- 

 ferred to the Schedule of the Act of 1880. 



The unprotected condition of birds, the 

 decrease of their numbers, and the cruelties 

 to which they were exposed having once 

 been brought into view, it was not likely 

 that bird-lovers would rest satisfied with this 

 limited measure of protection for sea-birds 

 only. Mr. Morris and others had already 

 been agitating for wider treatment of the 

 whole matter, pointing out the invaluable 

 services of the small bird to agriculture, and 

 urging a heavy tax on guns, the prohibition 

 of iron traps, a licence for bird-dealers and 

 small cages, and other measures. Professor 

 Newton in his address at the British Asso- 

 ciation, had predicted that " sooner or later 

 a close time must be estabhshed in this 

 country for all wild birds . . . the Hawk 

 and Sea-gull equally with the Pheasant and 

 Grouse." Sunday protection was also 

 pleaded for, Sunday being then, as now, the 

 great day for bird-catchers, and also for 



