Vol. xli.] 4G 



insect pests, but none the less they may form a most useful 

 adjunct, and therefore all methods for protecting useful 

 birds should be employed ; but we must be certain that any 

 particular species is useful and for thai) purpose we must 

 know its food and habits minutely, and on these points our 

 knowledge of birds in general is sadly deficient. Neverthe- 

 less, a purely insectivorous bird is likely to do more good 

 than harm, and hence in default of exact knowledge we shall 

 do well to preserve it. 



We must remember that not all insects are harmful, and 

 that many species of insects prey on others, and in that way 

 do as much good as many insectivorous birds ; also that 

 certain insects are distasteful to birds and consequently no 

 increase of bird-life will affect their numbers, e.g., Goose- 

 berry Moth. The matter is also further complicated by 

 migration, so that the bird may not be in the country when 

 the insect is in a suitable stage of development ; also the 

 food of many birds varies according to the time of the year, 

 and while eating insects during certain months they may 

 turn their attention to fruit when in season, and for a 

 similar reason a bird may be useful in one country and 

 harmful in another, so that while we are trying to increase 

 the niimbers of a certain species all our efforts may be 

 defeated by a reverse process in a neighbouring country, 

 I trust that you will not think that I am against any pro- 

 tection of birds, far from it, but I am dealing to-day from 

 the purely utilitarian point of view, and therefore for the 

 moment am dealing in the hard facts and banishing all 

 sentimental and aesthetic considerations from my arguments. 



Before concluding, let me roughly summarize the gist of 

 my remarks. The scarcity of any particular species of 

 bird in this country has been primarily due to high cultiva- 

 tion and destruction of suitable breeding-places, and no 

 protection will increase those species, but, owing to their 

 rarity, their eggs and skins have become of value to col- 

 lectors and they are thus in danger of extermination in this 

 country, more especially when they breed here and get 

 their nests robbed, perhaps two or three times yearly. This 



