14 
in vain for winged and four-footed vermin, determined to keep 
watch for the aggressor, when, after some time, a Moorhen was 
seen walking about near the copse. The keeper, supposing it only 
came to eat the young Pheasants’ food, did not shoot it, until he 
saw tke Moorhen strike a young Pheasant, which it killed imme- 
diately and devoured, except the leg- and wing-bones. The remains 
agreed exactly with eight found before. Perfect confidence may be 
placed in the correctness of this statement.”—Zoologist, 1854, p. 4255. 
For further evidence in proof of the correctness of these statements 
see my account of the Moorhen in the fourth volume. 
In case what I have here and there said respecting the pugnacious 
and carnivorous propensities of the Moorhen should excite surprise, I 
may mention that they appear to be shared in common with all the 
other members of the group to which it belongs, from the delicately 
formed Rail to the most robust Porphyrio; and that they are all of a 
combative disposition is evidenced by possession of a sharp spur on 
the wing, short in some of the species, and prolonged in others. 
The question has arisen whether, when we consider the pre- 
sent comparative scarcity of the Peregrine and other of their ene- 
mies, it will be really advisable to encourage the breeding of the 
marine or cliff birds, many persons being fearful that such a measure 
would lead to a great decrease in our edible fish, upon which they 
solely subsist. The daily quantity consumed by the Gannet and 
Cormorant, to say nothing of the Guillemots, Terns, &c., is greatly 
beyond conception, thus showing that both care and judgement is 
necessary with regard to the new laws about, to be enacted. 
Had a measure been passed fifty years ago and penalties enforced 
for killing the Great Auk and the few remaining Bustards that then 
stalked over our great plains, we should doubtless have still had 
these two fine birds gracing our islands; as it is, the former (Alca 
impennis or Gare Fowl) is wholly extirpated from the waters, not 
only of our own country, but of the universe ; the Bustard still holds 
its own on the Continent, whence now and then in the course of a 
few years one strays over the seas, and visits the haunts of those 
of its kind which formerly existed here; its permanent residence 
again among us, however, is rendered impossible by the gradual 
disappearance under cultivation of the vast plains and wolds over 
which it roamed, whereby they have been rendered incompatible with 
its existence. The Capercaillie, which probably died out from natural 
causes, was wholly absent for a hundred years, but owing to the re- 
planting of pine-forests, the conditions favourable to its welfare are 
returning, and a fresh introduction has reinstated it. Other birds, 
such as the Crane, Spoonbill, Bittern, Avocet, and the Ruff, which 
were once very common, have now, owing to the draining of our 
fens and marshes, no resting-places where they could dwell in peace 
and unmolested. Thus it will be seen that by man’s industry in 
effecting improvements certain natural productions are greatly in- 
terfered with. 
With regard to the exact enumeration of the birds frequenting 
the British Islands there must always be considerable difficulties, 
