CH. V.] PLEA FOR RARE BIRDS. 211 



many of them, alas ! never to return to the country 

 which afforded them the shelter they have been 

 here denied. Were such occasional visitors pro- 

 tected, instead of being hunted to the death, as 

 they are at present, it is not only possible, but, I 

 think, probable, that some at least might be 

 induced to remain permanently with us, and thus 

 become naturalised in our Islands, while others, of 

 the purely migratory class, might return periodi- 

 cally to our shores in increasing numbers. I 

 would not go the length of saying that an excep- 

 tional case may not now and then occur, when the 

 ends of science may be advanced by the acquisi- 

 tion of an individual of rare or doubtful species, 

 but I should indeed be glad if my humble voice 

 could be echoed by a general protest against the 

 indiscriminate destruction of birds merely because 

 they are rare. 



P2 



