Protecting Nests ami Sitting Birds, 9 



I 

 experience ; these young hens therefore suffer 

 more from foxes, and their nests are more Hkely 

 to be destroyed. / 



Before proceeding further the author wishes to 

 commend highly the plan cf mapping out the 

 exact position of every nest which can be found. 

 Each keeper is provided with a tracing of his beat 

 taken from an ordnance map of the district, 

 together with a notebook, is instructed to find 

 all the nests possible, and mark their locality 

 on the map. His next duty is to ascertain when 

 each bird commences to sit, and to jot down this 

 information in the book ; then he will be in a 

 position to determine when every nest of which he 

 knows will hatch, and able to afford it protection 

 at the critical period. Before this occurs no 

 extra precautions need be taken, although the 

 nests should be visited occasionally to determine 

 that all is right, in case vermin may be stealing , 

 eggs. However, too much interference should 

 not be allowed, or a track will be made leading to 

 the nest, of which a cunning old fox may at once 

 take advantage. The keeper, too, should bear in 

 mind that when visiting nests his actions may be 

 watched by human egg-stealers, who are quite 

 cute enough to profit by his pauses to examine 

 nests. This last remark is made because losses 



