PROTECTION OF BIRDS IN THE PARKS 277 



who kill and capture birds and take their eggs 

 and young. 



The damage done by the ordinary boy, who 

 throws stones and cannot resist the temptation 

 to take a nest when he has the chance, is hardly 

 appreciable in the parks where there is any real 

 desire on the part of the superintendents and 

 keepers to protect the birds. On some of the 

 large open spaces on the outskirts of London, 

 such as Hampstead Heath and the commons in 

 the South-west district, the keepers are too few 

 to protect the nesting birds, and the eggs are 

 very nearly all taken. A much more serious 

 injury is inflicted by the bird fancier from the 

 slums, who visits the parks with the object of 

 stealing the birds, adults and young, and by the 

 worst kind of blackguard or rough, who kills 

 and smashes when he gets the chance solely for 

 the pleasure of destroying something which 

 others value, or, to quote Bacon's phrase, 

 ' because he can do no other.' 



As to the bird fancier who is a bird stealer, 

 I have said enough in a former chapter to show 

 that he can very easily be got rid of where 

 there is any real desire to protect the birds. 



It remains to say something concerning the 



