A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



rare occurrences or interesting observations, which have been made use 

 of in the following list. Among the chief of these may be noticed 

 the Rev. Canon J. C. Atkinson (1814-1900), of Danby, Yorkshire, who 

 spent the earlier portion of his life in Essex ; Charles R. Bree, M.D. 

 (1811-86), of Colchester; Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A. (1802-95), of 

 Saffron Walden ; Henry Doubleday (1808-75), of Epping ; Christopher 

 Parsons (1807-82), of Southchurch ; and Colonel Champion Russell 

 (1820-82), of Stubbers, Romford. 



Among living ornithologists who are resident in the county and 

 have assisted the writer with information during the compilation of the 

 following list are Mr. G. H. Baxter, F.Z.S., of Hutton Park ; Mr. E. 

 A. Fitch, F.L.S., of Maldon ; Mr. G. P. Hope, of Havering Grange ; 

 Mr. F. Kerry, of Harwich ; Dr. Henry Laver, F.L.S., and Mr. F. 

 Spalding, both of Colchester ; Mr. Walter B. Nichols, of Bradfield ; 

 Mr. Champion B. Russell, of Stubbers ; Dr. J. H. Salter, of Tolleshunt 

 Darcy ; Mr. Charles Smoothy, of Danbury ; and various others. The 

 number of practical working ornithologists now resident in the county 

 is small and, it is to be feared, decreasing. 



The Essex County Council is to be congratulated on the intelligent 

 and practical interest it has long taken in the legal protection of the 

 wild birds frequenting the area under its control. Upon several occa- 

 sions the Home Secretary, upon the application of the Council, has 

 made Orders varying, as occasion required, the close time mentioned in 

 the Wild Birds Protection Acts, 1880 to 1896, thus extending the pro- 

 tection afforded to certain species in certain areas. The most recent 

 order bears date May 3, 1901. These variations have been made, as a 

 rule, on the initiative of Messrs. E. N. Buxton, E. A. Fitch, and 

 Champion B. Russell, working in co-operation with the Essex Field 

 Club. At present, the close time is from March 15 to August 15, 

 both inclusive. The kingfisher is protected all the year round. The 

 barn-owl and kestrel most useful of birds might well be similarly 

 protected. A number of other species are also protected all the 

 year round, but only in that portion of the county lying within the 

 Metropolitan Police District and in certain parishes adjacent thereto. 

 All birds are protected on Sundays in six Poor Law Unions. In that 

 portion of the county lying within the Metropolitan Police District, the 

 taking of eggs of a considerable number of species (some of which are, 

 however, hardly likely to be found breeding there) is prohibited ; while 

 along practically the whole of the foreshore of the county, from 

 Harwich to Shoeburyness, the taking of the eggs of all breeding species 

 is similarly prohibited for a period of five years from May 3, 1901. 

 The latter provision is of especial value. It will lead probably to a sub- 

 stantial increase in the number of certain species, such as the lesser tern, 

 the ringed plover, the sheld duck, and others, whose nests are especially 

 liable to destruction. The lesser tern was, when the order first came 

 into force, hovering on the very verge of extinction as a breeding species 

 in Essex. Conceivably, too, the protection thus afforded might lead to 



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