THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS 143 



persecuted birds. This association was formed in 

 October 1868, at a meeting held in Bridlington 

 Vicarage, Yorkshire, under the presidency of the 

 vicar of the parish, the Rev. H. F. Barnes (now 

 Canon Barnes-Lawrence), an old friend of my 

 father's, and an ardent defender and champion of 

 the cause of the birds. Mr. Harland, of the same 

 place, worked energetically as secretary. The tales 

 of cruelty that reached the ears of the good people 

 of Bridlington were heart-rending in the extreme. 

 "Sportsmen" (!) from the West Riding made de- 

 scents upon the coast in the neighbourhood of 

 Flamborough Head, where the birds were known 

 to breed in countless multitudes, and slaughtered 

 these beautiful and harmless creatures wholesale, 

 when, where, and how they listed. It was a thing 

 of no concern to these people whether it was the 

 breeding season of the birds or whether it was not. 

 At them they went, and brought them down in 

 the midst of their graceful flight, or as they rode 

 upon the wave, in hundreds and in thousands. It 

 mattered not even to these contemptible shooters 

 whether the birds had young in their nests or not ; 

 the piteous cries of the young birds bereft of their 

 parents, and starving for lack of the attention they 

 needed, moved not the hearts of their tormentors. 

 Boat-loads of the mangled remains of these interest- 

 ing sea-birds were made away with, while others, 

 wounded and bleeding, were left to die a lingering 

 and agonising death in the waters. At one time 

 the rate of slaughter had reached such a pitch 



