152 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



sole possession of their lonely home, and long may 

 they live in these wild hills, unpersecuted by col- 

 lectors ; for the sable forms of these fine birds as they 

 fly from, crag to crag are a fitting addition to the 

 charm of their romantic home. 



Egg collectors, or agents of dealers in birds' eggs, 

 are now the worst enemies of rare birds. If it were 

 not for such destroyers the fast-diminishing number 

 of our rarer breeding species would, in the course of 

 a few years, naturally increase. I have been told re- 

 peatedly and I have also seen similar assertions in 

 print that bond-fide collecting does not do harm to 

 the birds in question. If there was only one collector 

 in these small islands, and if that one was content 

 with one clutch of eggs only, the above argument 

 would have some little force. But there are hundreds 

 of people who call themselves bond-fide collectors 

 who are not easily satisfied. I know some who 

 think it necessary to have five or six clutches of 

 eggs of such rare birds as the raven or buzzard, to 

 make their collection of any value. Egg collectors, 

 and .these alone, are driving from this country its last 

 remaining specimens of rare birds, whose absence in 

 time will be vainly regretted. 



We found one other nest containing three eggs, 

 one of these being broken, also one or two nests not 

 ready for eggs. The five days we spent among the 

 hills will ever be remembered with joy. It is no 



