Correspondence.



281



men that we owe the present state of affairs, and the necessity for regulations

which in their working hamper the pursuit of genuine research.


In justification of that proposition, let us consider for a moment the

genesis of the Wild Birds Protection Acts. The indignation of the British

public, which resulted in the agitation for the protection of wild birds was first

brought about by two things : (1) the wanton slaughter of sea birds at the breed¬

ing stations in the interests of the plumage market, and (2) the no less reckless

and senseless extermination of some of the finest British species by the egg

collectors ; the former done with the open object of commercial gain ; the latter

perpetrated ostensibly in the guise of a 1 Love of Science,’ in fact for no better

reason than the collector’s own personal gratification. The plumage hunter

was easily dealt with ; the nature of his work compelled him to work openly ;

and the Wild Birds Protection Act put a stop to the wholesale slaughter of sea

birds. Not so with the collector ; he works silently, and sometimes by singu¬

larly underhand methods, and continues to do an infinity of harm, always be it

remembered, in the name of a ‘ Love of Science.’ A love of science so genuine

and intelligent that the last clutch of British taken Osprey eggs is of infinitely

more value in his eyes than an exactly similar clutch taken on the Continent.

As a result it has come to this, that there are some thirteen British breeding

species that bred regularly with us up to recent years, that are at this moment

either non-existent as breeding species or are hanging on in diminishing numbers

too small to guarantee the continued existence of the species.


In this state of things the collector is solely to blame. It is true that in

the case of many of them, modern conditions, draining, and the value of sport¬

ing rights, etc. had already rendered it impossible that they should continue in

their former number, but their continued existence in reduced numbers was, and

is, not only possible but certain, if they could only be protected from the

intolerable lust of the egg collector. In such species, the last lingering hope rests

with the public spirited efforts of individual landowners and others who, at no

small expense to themselves, are engaged in the endeavour to retain some of

the finest British birds on the active list. All honour to them, and every lover

of birds in Great Britain gives them unstinted gratitude.


It is nothing short of a disgrace that these efforts are not better re¬

warded, and in some cases are totally wanting in results. The Kite has been

saved in the nick of time, though the attentions of the collector have gone forth

to rob us of the full possibilities resulting from their protection, while the efforts

of gentlemen who have undertaken the protection of the few remaining nests of

Montagu’s Harrier hen have been almost entirely without success.


In others it is even now too late, and one of the most magnificent sights

in the whole of bird life, that of a wild Osprey fishing, is no longer to be seen in

these islands, while the empty eyries of the sea Eagle and the Osprey stand as

recent monuments to this sickening travesty of a love of Science.


It is small wonder that those, and they are many, to whom Nature is



