TNTRODTTCTIOJr. 



on field mice, young rats, and insects, is being everywhere reck- 

 lessly shot down. The Owls, too, the police of the stack-garth, 

 are sacrificed with equal disregard; and since the gamekeeper 

 can find nothing else to exercise his skill upon, he has taken to 

 trap and shoot such harmless creatures as the squirrel, hedgehog 

 and Dipper. This last does not only not eat salmon spawn, as 

 it has been accused of doiag, but is really of service, for it de- 

 vours aquatic insects that are injurious to the spawn ; this I have 

 proved by dissection. And the Cuckoo, on account of its Hawk- 

 like appearance, has been threatened by the ignorant and over 

 zealous gamekeeper. Indeed, I have seen one of these birds 

 nailed on a wall along with Hawks and Haws ; and on pointing 

 this out to the gamekeeper, and making the observation, ""Why, 

 this is not a Hawk!" the sulky reply was, "Why, if it isn't, 

 it's very like one !" The Groatsucker's turn will come next, on 

 account of its resemblance to the Cuckoo. 



Prom the operations of man, and particularly from the disturb- 

 ing influence of the game-preserver, the avifauna of the district 

 has been, and is being, considerably modified in its distribution. 

 Some visitants that were common have become rare, as for in- 

 stance the Bittern, the Stork, the Osprey, the Kite. Several 

 residents that once bred in this district are now merely visitants. 

 The Eagle bred on Cheviot, the Peregrine bred in several locali- 

 ties within the district, and so did the Common Buzzard, the 

 Moor Buzzard, the Hen Harrier, Wryneck, and IS'uthatch. The 

 Enff, the Dunlin, the Redshank, the Shoveller, and Pintail will 

 now in all probability cease to breed here, and many other spe- 

 cies are being in like manner rapidly banished. Of these may 

 be mentioned the Eaven, the Carrion Crow, the Magpie, the Jay, 

 the Merlin, the Kestrel, the Sparrow Hawk, the Wood Owl, the 

 Long-eared Owl, the White Owl. 



It is pleasing to remark that there is apparently an awakening 

 to the fact that the destruction of birds may be an evil. This 

 seems to be evinced by the passing of the recent Acts of Parlia- 

 ment for the protection of birds during the breeding season. Two 

 such acts have passed the Legislature; the first in 1869, the se- 

 cond in 1873: the former relates exclusively to marine birds, 



