SUPERVISION OF GAMEKEEPERS 333 



birds by keepers throughout the year. Whatever 

 might be the floral beauty of our English lanes and 

 fields, more than half their charm would be gone if 

 the birds went. Apart from the music of their songs, 

 their movements create an animation whose absence 

 we can hardly realise, unless we have strolled 

 through the birdless grove in the Duke of Rich- 

 mond's park at Goodwood. Even in winter, when 

 the time of the singing birds is gone, the sharp cries 

 of the sparrows, or the plaintive notes of the robin 

 or tit relieve the lanes of their loneliness. Yet how 

 many birds which once flourished in England are 

 now practically obsolete ! The kite {Afilvus regalis), 

 with its long forked tail, and the hobby {Hypotriorchis 

 subbuteo) have now migrated to Algeria and the 

 southern shores of the Mediterranean. The kestrel 

 {Falco tinnunculus) is so rare as to be almost extinct. 

 The heron {Ardea cinered) is seldom found outside 

 Norfolk. The kingfisher, than which no bird has a 

 lovelier plumage with the metallic sapphire blue of the 

 wings, has been shot to such an extent that we rarely 

 see it. The bearded tit {Panurus biar^nicus) can only 

 now be seen amongst the reeds of some tarn or broad 

 in Norfolk. The ruff" and reeve {^Machetes pugnax) 

 can only be found in the same locality. The peewit 

 or lapwing {Vanellus cristatus), \hQ hawfinch {Cocco- 

 thraustes vulgaris), the siskin {Fringilla spinas), the 

 nuthatch {Sitta Europced), and the goatsucker {Capri- 

 inulgus) are now rarely visible in our fields and 

 woods. We may see them in London shops stuffed 



