XIII 

 The Protection of Birds 



THE destruction of rare birds which we hear 

 of from time to time, especially in the London 

 suburbs, prompts one to ask, What can be done for 

 the better protection of districts still picturesquely 

 attractive? It is in the environs of London that 

 birds most need protection. In out-of-the-way 

 country parishes the more common kinds are not 

 in danger ; in point of fact there are thousands of 

 square miles of country where birds breed unmolested 

 year after year. In our London suburbs, however, 

 and more especially on the north side of the 

 metropolis, something more definite must be done 

 in the way of protection than is being carried out 

 at present, unless several rarer kinds of birds are 

 to be annihilated. Mere notice-boards setting forth 

 the provisions of the Wild Birds' Protection Act, 

 placed in railway stations, in fields, or on fences 

 adjoining the highways, seem very ineffective. I have 

 seen bird-catchers at work almost underneath some 

 of these notice-boards. The rn^q a.re well aware 



