142 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. . 



of July, and County Councils have powers to extend this close season in 

 their counties, and to protect special birds throughout the year. 



Before discussing the working of these measures. I would lay it down 

 as an axiom that all such laws, to be effective, must be supported by a 

 certain amount of public sympathy, and that, too, the sympathy of the 

 men on the spot, and, above all, of the better type of amateur collector ; he 

 perhaps can do more than anyone else to aid or nullify them. As matters 

 now stand, both collectors and professional fowlers are for all practical 

 purposes agreed in upholding the law. They recognize that it is for the 

 common good that the birds, while breeding, should be protected. But there 

 has been, especially on the coast, much ill feeling aroused by the extension 

 of the close season in some counties to August. The collector feels that 

 his chance, small as it was, of securing a summer-plumaged Wader has been 

 much reduced ; the fowler, noticing that Duck and Snipe, which frequent 

 the fresh marshes of the neighbouring landowner, may now be shot, while 

 his Curlew or Whimbrel must be left severely alone, can hardly be blamed 

 for suggesting that this is a case of one law for the rich and another for 

 the poor; while the villager who was accustomed to provide lodgings for 

 collectors finds himself suddenly docked of what he had come to regard as a 

 regular part of his income, and the local tradesman also sees his profits 

 seriously curtailed. In fact, the village is hit all round, and but for the 

 fact that bicycling has lately opened up these districts and thereby increased 

 the number of casual August holiday-seekers, the outcry would have been 

 far greater than it is. 



Letters have recently appeared in the papers, from well-meaning but, 

 I think, misguided bird-lovers, suggesting that September also should be 

 included in the close time. For this proposal there is practically nothing to 

 be said. By the time August is out quite sufficient birds have passed south 

 to provide a breeding stock for next year, and the remainder may well 

 be left to take their chance. Again, if the collector is to be driven away 

 from the villages in September, very real hardship will be inflicted on 

 their inhabitants. He is the only person who goes there so late ; the 

 ordinary tripper has found his way back to town ; and, lastly, the seashore is 

 the poor man's natural hunting-ground. Why, while his rich neighbours are 

 shooting their Partridges, should he be deprived of a sport not one whit 

 inferior to theirs ? While, if it comes to mere sentimentality, I suppose 

 a Partridge feels a shot as much as a Wader does. As for the rarities, 

 even now it is easy enough, if one wants to do it, to bribe local shooters 

 to get them in the close season ; and if September is included, no doubt 



