The Oologists' Record, September 1, 1923. 57 



us have a Bill which swings 'from the sublime to the ridiculous, 

 or which places a Ruff or a Reeve on the same level as a Partridge, 

 and allows a person to shoot the former on the 1st of September 

 notwithstanding the fact that he may be fined ;^20 a few weeks pre- 

 viously for having taken the eggs of the self-same bird. 



Your obedient servant, 



G. N. Carter. 

 8, Wolseley Place, 

 Withington, 



Manchester. 

 llth Ancritsf, 1923. 



A PLEA FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 



By Lewis R. W. Loyd. 



Such a heading as the above may seem, to some, curiously out 

 of place in a journal devoted exclusively to matters oological. 

 But is it ? I think not. The egg-collector is not nearly so 

 black as many people would like to paint him, and is just as open 

 to reason as any other ornithologist — perhaps more so for, as a rule, 

 he is more intimately acquainted with the bird's home life. The 

 R.S.P.B. have lately been shouting very loudly about what they 

 are pleased to term the " filching of eggs by the clutch " (32nd 

 Annual Report, p. 7) and quote the Dundee Advertiser (presumably 

 a newspaper) which with studied civility refers to collectors of 

 clutches as the " most baneful of this baneful breed." With the 

 probable exception of the White-tailed and Golden Eagles every 

 British breeding bird will lay again if its first clutch is destroyed — 

 whether by human or other agency : the vast majority will lay 

 a third time ; many a fourth or more. If the whole clutch 

 is " filched," therefore, no harm is done for I can hardly believe 

 that the most grasping collector would knowingly rob a bird of its 

 second clutch — certainly not of its third. If only a part of the 

 clutch is taken no harm is done either provided the bird deserts, 

 except that the eggs left are wasted. If, however, the bird does 

 not desert the obvious consequence must be that a smaller family 

 than ordinary is reared. 



During the last few seasons I have spent many weeks on Lundy,. 

 and the result of some of the observations made there have tempted 

 me to write this paper. The island is the breeding resort of many 



