WHEN I WAS YOUNG 27 



fish, so I simply tumbled overboard and swam 

 about till I recovered the rope, and made for the 

 shore, after many struggles. About half of the fish 

 did escape, but we had a good haul nevertheless, 

 containing one monster fish of over 13 Ibs. These 

 Grey Mullet have a greater strength and activity 

 than any other fish with which I am acquainted, 

 often throwing themselves right out of the boat 

 from the bottom. Moreover, they possess a back 

 fin armed with formidable spikes, similar to a perch, 

 so they are by no means easy to handle. Our usual 

 method for killing was to strike them as quickly as 

 possible with a wooden mallet. 



I think it was in 1887, the first year of the Wild 

 Birds' Protection Act, that, on returning one sum- 

 mer's day from Orkney to Murthly, I found our old 

 friend Sir William Harcourt, the sponsor of the 

 Bill, a guest in the house. 



"Where have you come from, Johnny?" he 

 remarked. 



" From Orkney," I answered, " where I have been 

 contravening the Wild Birds' Protection Act." 



" You young scoundrel," he said with indigna- 

 tion, " you ought to be prosecuted." 



Now, as a matter of fact, I do not think I had shot a 

 single bird on the prohibited schedule, but had been 

 engaged in filling up the long series of immature 

 gulls which it is necessary to have to make a com- 

 plete collection of British birds in all stages of life. 

 I explained all this to Sir William, and showed him 

 that to a professional naturalist these birds were 

 absolutely necessary for future scientific explana- 

 tion, and that up to date there was no work in 

 existence dealing with their life histories, and that 



