BIRDS AND THEIR RIGHTS 93 



There may be a sort of satisfaction in the reflection, 

 that for, perhaps, every insectivorous bird wantonly killed, 

 some proportion of its weight in silver has to be paid 

 indirectly by the country. But the satisfaction is of no 

 avail to the dead bird nor to the species, unless the tax- 

 payer feels the smart and becomes indignant. We want 

 to save the lives of the birds, and the silver, then to 

 moralise ; not kill the bird and be compelled to spend the 

 silver in destroying insects that the bird would have 

 delighted to consume, and moralise upon the destructive- 

 ness of some hitherto insignificant bug or beetle, which has 

 suddenly developed into a national calamity. 



So it was resolved, as other phases of island life 

 matured, that one of the first ordinances to be proclaimed 

 would be that forbidding interference with birds. That 

 ordinance prevails. Our sea-girt hermitage is a sanc- 

 tuary for all manner of birds, save those of murderous 

 and cannibalistic instincts. We give all a hearty welcome 

 and make friends of them if possible. During the eight 

 years of our occupancy many shy creatures have become 

 quite bold and familiar ; though I am fain to admit, with 

 disappointment, that but slight increases in the species 

 represented have been noticed. Four strange species of 

 terns, which are wont to lay on the bare reef patches of the 

 Barrier, now visit Purtaboi regularly every season, depositing 

 their eggs among those of two other species, which in spite 

 of disturbance by the blacks, year after year refused to 

 abandon the spot. Possibly the fact that a haven of refuge 

 has been established has not been widely promulgated among 

 our friends. Those who are with us or visit us have peace 

 and security, and are for the most part friendly and trustful. 



Man the late-comer, the last work, the perfect form 

 is not always kindly disposed towards the lower 

 orders, though the dominion he exercises over them is 

 absolute. Were not the beasts of the field, the birds of the 

 air, the very fish of the sea, given over to his arbitrary 

 authority ? Here the interest in birds is mainly protective. 

 The printed law of the land says in ponderous paragraphs 



