31 



complaints are made. We are told by one student of economic 

 ornithology that the Chaffinch does great harm to fruit by 

 destroying buds* ; another authority refers to the damage it 

 does to young turnips, radishes and similar crops. f But there 

 is equally no doubt that it is a great consumer of insects, and it is 

 interesting to see that IVIr. He^vitt in his Report to the Water- 

 works Committee of the Corporation of Manchester, referring to 

 the damage done by the ravages of the Larch Sawfly in the plan- 

 tations of the Thirlmere district, advocates as a remedy the 

 encouragement of the Chaffinch and certain other birds. { Our 

 own view, based on careful observation, happens to be somewhat 

 strongly in favour of this bird, but there is evidently a good deal 

 to be said on the other side. ]VIr. Theobald, an impartial judge, 

 says : " There seems so much difference of opinion in regard to 

 this Finch that it is probably best left in its present condition, 

 but any undue increase must of necessity be checked by shooting 

 the birds after their nestlings are mature. "§ Such cases as those 

 of the Skylark and Chaffinch, both very common birds, are 

 sufficient to illustrate the kind of difficulty M'hich arises at every 

 turn in the compilation of a schedule of useful or insectivorous 

 species. 



Our Act of 1880 is provided A\dth a rather curious Schedule. 

 The Act itself, it ^^'ill be remembered, provides a close season for 

 all ^\'ild birds ; an offence in respect of a scheduled species being 

 more heavily punished than an offence Avith regard to a species 

 not included in the Schedule. Now, if we peruse this Schedule, 

 we look in vain for the names of any Warblers other than the 

 Nightingale ; and insect feeders, such as the Swallow, Robin, 

 Wheatears, Flycatchers, Wagtails, are all omitted. The 

 Schedule horrifies some of our neighbours on the Continent, 

 who do not perhaps appreciate the fact that so many insec- 

 tivorous birds find a paradise in England, and that a large 

 portion of our country s\Aarms ^nth them throughout the 

 summer months. 



The Schedule to the Act of 1880 seems in fact to include 

 cliiefly the larger birds, which are the more likely to be interfered 

 with ; the numerous species of small insectivorous birds being 

 omitted, partly, no doubt, because they are so numerous, and 

 partly because they can under prevalent conditions very well 



* F. Smith, " The Fruitgrower and the Birds " (Maidstone, 1906). 



t Charles F. Archibald, " Wild Birds Useful and Injurious," Journ. Roy. 



Agric. Soc, 1892. 

 1 C. Gordon Hewitt's Report to Waterworks Committee of the Manchester 



Corporation, November, 1907. 

 § Fred V. Theobald, Economic Ornithology in " Science Progress," October, 



1907, p. 274. 



