both barrels into a dense flock of Waders, a proceed- 
ing, which to say the least of it, is highly un- 
sportsmanlike, and can only be described as sheer 
‘butchery. The worst feature about this so-called 
sport, is that in addition to the number of birds 
actually killed, many others ‘‘carry on’’ as cripples 
and die. When a swivel-gun is, for want of 
better quarry, discharged at a flock of shore birds, 
the result, of course, is infinitely worse. 
The practice of shooting such birds, for ex- 
ample, as the Bearded Tit, Dartford Warbler, 
Raven, and others of their class, some of which are 
becoming increasingly rare, while others only retain 
a precarious footing in these Islands, cannot be too 
strongly condemned. On the other hand, the avi- 
fauna of the country is not likely to suffer material 
loss by the taking of accidental stragglers. which 
visit our shores from time to time, since they are 
never likely to establish themselves in this country, 
and are not, in the true sense of the word, British 
birds. The shooting of these isolated waifs which 
have wandered so far from their native haunts, in 
nowise lessens the chance of the species’ re-appear- 
ance another year, and it would certainly seem more 
rational that they should be exhibited to scores of 
people who can admire their beauties, rather than 
that one or two individuals should have the privi- 
lege of observing them for a brief half-hour through 
a pair of field glasses. 
The Wild Birds’ Protection Act has done a 
great deal towards maintaining the numbers of the 
