98 COENISH CHOUGHS. 



then, Mr. Woods having removed down to the coast, has been 

 no longer on the spot to superintend their capture among the 

 mountains of Santander ; but when he last wrote, he assured 

 me his promise still remained in force, though he was unable to 

 appoint a time when it would be discharged.* 



The South Coast of Cornwall is now entirely deserted by 

 Choughs, and the only remaining colonies are found at intervals 

 on the side facing the Atlantic ; the greater proportion of the 

 birds being (most unfortunately) met with in the immediate 



neighbourhood of T , where several young ones are 



annually taken, and find ready purchasers among the summer 

 tourists. Being remonstrated with, and advised to leave at least 

 two young ones in every nest which he rifled, so that the future 

 existence of these birds may not be seriously jeopardised, a 

 cliff man propounded this conundrum: — "The last man who 

 took Cornish daws, was killed over cliff twenty-five years ago ; 

 how is it that, being left undisturbed all those years, they have 

 not increased ?" The answer to which was, of course, that if 

 they had been left undisturbed (which is open to extreme doubt), 

 though they might not have increased in that particular district, 

 yet the progeny would form fresh colonies elsewhere. Attention 

 to the Wild Birds' Preservation Act was forcibly drawn, a year 

 or two ago, by placards being posted in and about the village 



of T ; the consequence of which has been that the cliffmen 



are rather shy of appearing to possess young birds before the 

 1st of August; but as this Act does not prohibit the taking of 

 eggs, (Choughs' eggs always fetch a good price), it is not so 

 useful as it might well be ; and moreover, on reading the Act in 

 question, the cliffmen determined to circumvent it, by taking 

 the eggs, hatching them under pigeons, and then rearing the 

 young by hand. Whether they have done this is unknown ; but 

 even if not, they still contrive to obtain fledged nestlings, by, 

 if not before the first of August. It is a thousand pities that 

 any passer-by who happens to be in Cornwall, and deems it a 

 fine thing to possess a Cornish Chough, should be able to buy 



* In a subsequent letter, dated Dec, 1889, Mr. Woods writes — " I will do my 

 best to send you some young red-billed choughs. The yellow-billed are more 

 common, but both, I understand, build their nests at the sides of the deepest 

 shafts in the mines, and in the natural caverns which abound in the heights," 



