104 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



the pursuit of any wild animal, whether fit for food 

 or not, for pleasure or gain, is a form of sport, and 

 that sport ought not to be interfered with* So strong 

 and well-nigh universal is this feeling, which is like 

 a superstition, that the pursuit is not interfered with, 

 however unsportsmanlike it may be, and when 

 illegal, and when practised by only a very few 

 persons in any district, where to others it may be 

 secretly distasteful or even prejudicial* 



Even bird-catching on a common is regarded as a 

 form of sport and the bird-catcher as a sportsman 

 and a brother* 



A striking instance of this tameness and stupidly 

 acquiescent spirit in people generally was witnessed 

 during the intensely severe frosts of the early part 

 of the late winter (1883-3), when incalculable 

 numbers of sea-birds were driven by hunger and 

 cold into bays and inland waters* At this time 

 thousands of gulls made their appearance in the 

 Thames, but no sooner did they arrive than those 

 who possessed guns and licences to shoot began to 

 shoot them. The police interfered, and some of 

 these sportsmen were brought before the magistrates 

 and fined for the offence of discharging guns to the 

 public danger* For upwards of a fortnight after the 

 shooting had been put a stop to, the gulls continued 

 to frequent the river in large numbers, and were 

 perhaps most numerous from London Bridge to 



