PREFACE xix 



with the enemies of crops other than those reserved by the 

 landlords, which were protected against unlawful decima- 

 tion by the Game Laws. There was no Wild Birds' Protection 

 Act to prevent the schoolboy bird's nesting to his heart's con- 

 tent, the overseers of parishes paying premiums on house 

 sparrows' eggs, young, and adults, and birdcatchers plying 

 their avocation mainly through inciting town residents to keep 

 in captivity the wild birds of the country and even some of its 

 animals, such as the squirrel and dormouse. All the votaries 

 of the cultures sporting, fishing, foresting, farming, and 

 gardening vied with each other in destroying the enemies 

 of their crops, and carried this to such extent that the " lover 

 of nature " raised a hue and cry against the depletion of the 

 wildings as being inconsistent with the interests of the nation 

 and even of the cultures, inasmuch as no distinction was made 

 between friends and foes, while apart from these considerations 

 the rarer resident and migratory subjects were threatened with 

 extinction. 



The outcome of " lover of nature " agitation was the passing 

 of the Wild Birds' Protection Acts, 1869 (32 and 33 Viet, 

 cap. XVII), 1872 (35 and 36 Viet. cap. LXXVIII), and 1876, 

 the latter having regard chiefly to birds forming important 

 articles of food and commerce, while the two former embraced 

 British birds under purely local names, others under different 

 names for the same birds as if they belonged to different birds, 

 while there are also omissions implying compilation by persons 

 not well acquainted with the subjects. These matters, how- 

 ever, were subsequently amended, and power was given to 

 County Councils for modification of such measures as related 

 to their respective counties or districts. 



The " lover of nature " efforts in protecting the wild birds 

 had their reflex in an inordinate increase of game, and this 

 so pressed on the arbori-agri-horticulture industries that legis- 



