21 



that it had a nest. If he had gone again to the place he would 

 most likely have seen the other bird, or at any rate he might 

 have heard of it ; he might have ascertained whether there was 

 a likely place for the nest, and have sought day and night till he 

 found it, and cleared up the matter satisfactorily. I would be the 

 last person to disturb a Hoopoe at its nest ; but even if one was 

 found, and the young got away, there would be no certainty to 

 have either the old birds or the young at the same place the fol- 

 lowing year. It cannot surely be supposed, by any reasonable 

 person, that all the individuals of the rarer species of birds which 

 occasionally come to us are killed or even seen ; and if they are 

 not, it seems to me that conclusions that they would breed here 

 are arrived at upon very insufficient grounds. If the nest of a 

 rare bird is found it should not be recorded from what has been 

 told to any person only, but the fact should be capable of proof. 

 What reason have we for supposing that the two Cranes noticed 

 in Orkney or Shetland, and one of which was shot, were of op- 

 posite sexes ? It appears to me that the chances against their 

 settling there were a thousand to one. "We cannot control the 

 flight of migratory birds, or keep them one day longer than their 

 appointed time. One of the Cranes having been shot would 

 rather make it appear that they were not wild birds, or if wild, 

 that they were out of condition and lost. I fancy it is no easy 

 matter to shoot a Avild Crane in good health. 



The number of birds wanted for the legitimate study of Na- 

 tural History, by almost any number of persons, will never be 

 missed. It is not killing a few birds here and there that does 

 any great harm. It is the improvement of the land which pre- 

 vents Bustards, Cranes, Storks, and these kind of birds, migrat- 

 ing to us, or passing over us. Their day here (if they ever were 

 common, which is doubtful, the name having in some instances 

 changed by which birds were formerly known) is irretrievably 

 past : even the beautiful Heron is decreasing in number as po- 

 pulation increases and gets more dispersed. There is, unfortu- 

 nately, no help for it. C. M. A. 



