OF TWO MISCREANTS 215 



Little Blues ! There is a special Hell for this man 

 and his fellows. 



I left him and the wife and went to another 

 bridge, not far off, and leaning upon the rail I 

 asked myself what in the name of insanity was this 

 man doing, and what in the name of stupidity are 

 we doing to let him do it ? By his own confes- 

 sion this is going on all over the country. There 

 are thousands of these respectable miscreants in 

 our midst steadily "working out" the Duke of 

 Burgundy Fritillary. They dignify their proceed- 

 ings by the name of Entomology. The boy who 

 robs a bird's nest might call himself an Ornitholo- 

 gist, but that would be no reply to a prosecution 

 under the Wild Birds' Protection Act. Why is 

 a White Admiral less worthy of protection than 

 a golden- crested wren ? It is not for me to say 

 which is the more beautiful of the two. But if it 

 is thought good to prevent any madman who 

 chooses from going forth in the breeding season to 

 the indiscriminate slaughter of golden - crested 

 wrens and ger-falcons, why do we loose him upon 

 the White Admirals during the short time they 

 have on earth in which to propagate their species ? 

 If Parliament cannot contemplate a birdless Eng- 

 land, with what drug save that of unthinkingness 

 does it blind its eyes to an England without 

 butterflies and without moths ? 



