Protection of Wild Life in Yorkshire. 153 
fauna is that of the Little Owl, a bird which is now turning up 
in various parts. They are more interesting than welcome, 
as unfortunately they hunt equally well by daylight and dusk, 
and are consequently extremely destructive to small birds, 
therefore not deserving of encouragement. In quite a different 
category is the introduction of the Bearded Tit. An extensive 
experiment has been tried with these birds at Hornsea Mere, 
at first it promised to be a great success, as the birds nested 
and reared their young for a season or two, and were increasing 
nicely in numbers. They have now, I am sorry to say, appar- 
ently disappeared. The ground is a typical haunt, exactly 
similar to what one sees of their habitats on the broads and 
on the Continent ; I am however, afraid the area is not suffi- 
ciently large for them, and as a consequence they have wan- 
dered away. Another factor which may have made them 
uneasy in their new home and have helped to drive them away 
is the immense number of starlings which roost in the reeds 
during the autumn and winter months, battering and breaking 
them down and fouling the whole area as only Starlings can. 
The Willow Tit has been added to our list. Personally I 
consider it a very poor species. In order to distinguish it 
from the Marsh Tit, it is necessary to handle it, and even then 
the differences are so fine, as to make identification uncertain. 
If a specimen is desired, it is necessary to shoot a great 
number of Marsh Tits on the off chance of securing a specimen. 
This procedure was carried out in order to secure the Yorkshire 
specimen. 
There are certain birds whose numbers always appear 
to be stationary. They are not at any time too numerous, 
and despite the fact that most of them are able to nest and 
rear their young in safety, they do not increase, neither do they 
decrease. The Grey Wagtail for instance, has as its only 
enemy the egg collector. JI know scores of nesting places, 
which are occupied with the greatest regularity year after 
year; most of them, I am glad to say, bring off their young 
safely, yet it is very seldom indeed one finds a fresh nesting 
place. Goldcrests too, despite the fact that their ranks are 
reinforced every autumn by considerable immigrations from 
the Continent, never seem to increase in numbers. With so 
frail a bird, its total weight is only about 70 grains, the annual 
mortality must be very great, effectually preventing any 
superabundance. Nightingales regularly nest in small numbers, 
in the south of Yorkshire, yet their numbers never increase. 
Almost annually individual pairs penetrate into fresh parts of 
the county, but the experiment seems to be very rarely re- 
peated. It was quite a record to have a pair nesting in three 
successive years at Harrogate. It is one of the birdland 
mysteries still to be solved, why this species should rarely 

1916 May 1. 
