DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS AND NESTS 91 



well aware of the names of the offenders ; but 

 they take no steps to bring them to justice. Of 

 course, in the majority of instances, the culprits 

 are boys, who, by means of catapults, stones, or 

 other missiles not infrequently a gun or an old 

 horse-pistol wilfully and wantonly slaughter every 

 bird they see, and with just as little hesitation as 

 if the Act did not exist. Last summer (1894) 

 two boys, in the village in which I reside, coolly 

 clambered up a lime-tree growing in front of my 

 house and tore down the nest of a spotted fly- 

 catcher. Having each abstracted one of the young 

 birds, they threw the nest and the rest of the hap- 

 less brood over the railings into the adjoining 

 field. I happened to be away from home at the 

 time, but on my return I collected the little cast- 

 aways, and, placing them in the disused nest of a 

 thrush, inserted the latter amongst some ivy which 

 grew on a wall close by, and had the satisfaction 

 of knowing that at all events one of them survived, 

 having doubtless been fed by the parent birds. 

 The culprit in this instance was the son of our 

 rural policeman. His father, to whom I stated 

 the case, promised me that he would chastise him 

 soundly, but I have good reason to doubt if the 

 threatened castigation was ever administered, or, 

 if so, if it was in any way remarkable for its 

 severity, as I observed its supposed recipient swag- 

 gering down the village the next day, looking by 

 no means the worse for wear, and with rather more 

 assurance than usual. 



