186 Protection of Wild Life in Yorkshire. 
granted to them and their eggs. The eggs are dainty morsels. 
and were sought for diligently, and the birds themselves 
affording a toothsome dish, were harried unceasingly by the 
people who should have protected them. Eventually in 
many parts their numbers diminished to an alarming extent. 
They have, however, under protection, again asserted them- 
selves, and have practically recovered their lost ground. 
The Water Ouzel is another much misunderstood bird, 
and has been accused by ignorant anglers and fish watchers 
of devouring the trout ova in our streams, and many have had 
to be sacrificed to prove that the charge has no foundation. 
The Dipper searches the bed of the streams, feeding on the 
larvae found there, many of which are harmful to the trout ova 
or alvelins. Apart from any question of harmfulness or not, it 
passes my comprehension how anyone can find it in his heart 
to destroy such a charming bird. He is always ‘ merry and 
bright,’ and it is a delight to hear him in mid-winter perched 
on a small boulder in the middle of an ice fringed rapid, singing 
as lustily and cheerily as if the sun was shining and there was 
no winter or misery in the land. 
I should like to put in a word for the Warblers, most of them 
delightful songsters. The Black Cap and Garden Warblers 
take a certain toll from the fruit crops, but by destroying 
enormous numbers of insects and their larvae, they repay a 
thousandfold any tax they levy ; even the Sparrow is not all 
bad; during the breeding season, which in the case of the 
Sparrow is spread over a considerable time, they destroy an 
enormous number of insects upon which their young are mainly 
fed. I have watched a pair of Sparrows for hours which had 
a nest in the ivy covering the house, busy clearing the rose 
bushes of green fly, with which they were feeding their young. 
It does not do to take appearances for granted. Recently 
some investigations were being conducted as to the food of 
Gulls. A flock evidently very busy feeding upon some surface 
fish, it was thought they would prove fine examples of the 
general damage done to the fish fauna by these birds, and a 
number was shot. The result was that it was shown they 
had not been feeding on fish at all, but upon the brittle starfish, 
itself a great enemy to fish life. 
The Stonechat is a much misunderstood bird; references 
are continually being made as to their abundance in certain 
inland localities. Confusion arises from the fact that in many 
districts the Wheatear is called the Stonechat. The Stonechat 
in Yorkshire is essentially a coast bird, and is rarely found nest- 
ing inland. 
Finally, I should like to make, an appeal against the 
destruction of rare birds which visit our county. Eagles, 
Ospreys, Rough-legged Buzzards, Bitterns and hosts of others 


Naturalist, 
