PREFACE. Xlll 



and perhaps to have added a few new breeding- 

 stations. These two birds scarcely needed the 

 protection afforded by the Act, as their nests are 

 placed amongst very inaccessible rocks where very 

 few nests can be reached without the aid of a rope, 

 and consequently but little damage was done beyond 

 a few young birds being shot soon after they had 

 left the nest while they were flappers, and the 

 numbers were fully kept up ; other birds, however, 

 included in the Act, and not breeding in quite such 

 inaccessible places, seem to gain but little advantage 

 from it, as nests of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 

 Terns, Oystercatchers and Puffins are ruthlessly 

 robbed in a way that bids fair before long to exter- 

 minate all four species as breeding birds ; perhaps, 

 also, the increase in the number of Herring Gulls 

 does something to diminish the numbers of other 

 breeding species, especially the Lesser Black- 

 backs, as Herring Gulls are great robbers both 

 of eggs and young birds. The Act itself, after 

 reciting that " le nombre des oiseaux de mer 

 sur les cotes des Isles de cet Bailliage a con- 

 siderablement diminue depuis plusieurs annees; 

 que les dits oiseaux sont utiles aux pecheurs, en ce 

 qu'ils indiquent les parages ou les poissons se 

 trouvent ; que les dits oiseaux sont utiles aux marins 

 en ce qu'ils annoncent pendant la duree des 

 brouillards la proximite des rochers," goes on to 

 enact as follows : " II est defendu de prendre, 



