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The dashing little Merlin (alco ewsalon) is becoming more 
scarce every year, because old birds and young are all trapped at 
the nest. Yet we have never conversed with a keeper who con- 
demned the Merlin; and our own observations proved, years ago, 
that its prey includes little else than small field birds. 
Pole traps continue to wreak havoc among our Owls, and should 
be dispensed with, whenever possible. 
We do not propose to speak at length of the Dotterel ( Charadrius 
morinellus ), but candour compels us to state the fact that such 
few trips as still visit us are decimated for the sake of fly feathers. 
It is high time that anglers should discountenance the vandalism 
of their agents. 
Directing our thoughts to the North of Cumberland, we are 
reminded that the Shoveller (Spatula clypeata) continues to breed 
sparingly. A rumour reached us lately that two working-men 
in Carlisle tried to kill a pair of Shovellers at their nest. We trust 
that the report was unfounded. Residents in the neighbourhood 
of Sandsfield and Rockliffe are cautioned against capturing Shel- 
drakes at their nests, and lifting whole clutches. We have our 
eye upon the offenders, and advise them to leave the birds in 
peace. 
The Gulleries, Heronries, and Terneries of which Cumbrian 
men are proud, continue to flourish as a whole; but the eggs of 
Larus ridibundus are shamefully plundered on Bowness Moss, 
and the colony of this species at Salta Moss has suffered cruelly 
of late, every nest being empty on the occasion of a visit in June 
last. 
The foregoing remarks will be understood to convey our sense 
of anxiety on behalf of the scarcer birds that seek to breed with 
us ; and we can only trust that all the members of this Association 
will employ their influences in the right direction. 
We now pass on to consider the more important facts regarding 
Waders and Wildfowl in the winter 1887-8, and the autumn 1887. 
The winter brought us a good season for wildfowl; it is true that 
Wigeon (Mareca penelope) were unusually scarce, but some other 
Species were exceptionally abundant. This was true of the 
