BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



31 



Bird Watching in 1910. 



The work carried on by means of the 

 Watchers' Fund of the Royal Society for the 

 Protection of Bu-ds becomes more important 

 and extensive each season, and although the 

 fund is kept distinct from general subscrip- 

 tions, it rej^resents an integral part of the 

 Society's efforts — field work, in distinction 

 to educational, parliamentary, and propa- 

 gandist work. The business of the watchers 

 themselves is to guard the breeding-grounds 

 of rare species which are endangered by the 

 avidity of the modern collector ; but with 

 these men, who are, so to speak, on " point 

 duty," are associated the inspectors sent 

 from the Head Office, either to investigate 

 the depredations of bird-catchers and their 

 colleagues of the bird-shop, or to follow up 

 special cases where breaches of the law have 

 to be frustrated or brought to light. This 

 latter part of the business in particular is 

 often of an arduous and difficult character 

 as in searching for pole-tramps on the Welsh 

 mountains ; and some curious and interesting 

 stories might be told if it were possible to 

 make public half or a quarter of the facts 

 obtained. Unfortunately the sanctuaries 

 of rare birds cannot be described or — in 

 many cases — revealed without inducing the 

 very dangers that imperil them. The rocky 

 islet, the wide moorland, the loch or tarn, 

 cannot be fenced round or guarded by gates ; 

 and for the wild creatures that seek these 

 refuges in order to bring up their young 

 unmolested, silence is the only safety. Nor 

 can inquiries which end, as is often the case, 

 in prevention instead of prosecution be made 

 public. 



Scotland, with the Shetland Isles, and 

 Wales have from the first demanded a con- 

 siderable share of the Fund, and have given 

 good results for money expended. In the 



Shetlands, the home of so many rare and 

 handsome birds, the Society has been actively 

 engaged since 1905, and there are now in the 

 islands six men in receipt of awards and pay- 

 ments in return for good and useful work. 

 One island is preserved wholly as a sanctuary, 

 through the co-operation of the o\\'ner, 

 assisted by a grant from the Fund. Every 

 summer a member of the Watchers' Com- 

 mittee visits these islands (at his own expense) 

 and interviews the watchers. In Scotland 

 searching investigations, conducted by an 

 inspector, have discovered a considerable 

 secret traffic in legally-protected birds and 

 eggs. Tlie knowledge gained will, it is 

 hoped, enable the Society to devise means 

 by which these depredations may be curtailed. 

 Among the birds reported on in north Britain 

 this season are the Sea Eagle, Peregrine, 

 C4reat and Arctic Skua, \A'Tiimbrel, Dunlin, 

 Merganser, Golden Plover, Oyster-catcher 

 and Diver. 



In the spring of this year it came to the 

 Society's notice that an illegally-taken Golden 

 Eagle was being advertised for sale, and the 

 Procurator-Fiscal for the county (the pro- 

 secuting official in Scotland) was accordingly 

 communicated with. In reply the Fiscal said 

 that he had caused the bird to be set at 

 liberty. Later on six Eagle's eggs were adver- 

 tised, and it was ascertained by the Society's 

 Inspector that these were taken in the same 

 county. The dealer and the keepers who took 

 the eggs avowed ignorance of the law ; but 

 a long and troublesome inquiry was neces- 

 sita,ted by certain features of the case. No 

 prosecution was, however, instituted. Tlie 

 eggs were given up ; three of them were 

 sent to the Royal Scottish Museum, Edin- 

 burgh, and three to the Museum at Inverness. 



