Change of Habit due to War 



pre-war days comparatively rare or but 

 locally prescribed, have appeared in unusual 

 haunts. Mr. W. Beach Thomas asks : "Is 

 it an accident, or a result of the keeper's 

 absence, that BITTERNS have bred on the 

 east coast during the period of the war ? " 

 (Daily Mail, 22.1.19). It is to be hoped 

 that the powers conferred on County Coun- 

 cils by our Wild Birds Protection Acts will 

 be utilised to continue any benefits which 

 our rarer birds may have enjoyed owing to 

 the absence of their persecutors during the 

 War. The effects of increased cultivation 

 should, as regards this country, be beneficial 

 not only to graminivorous but also to in- 

 sectivorous birds ; but there is no reason to 

 suppose that any changes of this kind will 

 immediately influence the habits of birds. 

 In any case, it is imperative that the protec- 

 tion of birds, as at present enforced by our 

 Game Laws and Wild Birds Protection Acts, 

 should not be withdrawn, but rather increased, 

 seeing that our best crop protectors are the 

 Insectivorous birds. 



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