458 Report of Meetings. By the President. 



— a sort of peel tower, in fact. The Archdeacon put it partly to 

 rights, and fitted up some rooms for occasional residence. 



To dinner, grace having been said by the Vicar of Bamburgh, 

 and at which the salmon of the Tweed occupied its usual posi- 

 tion, seventy members and friends, bringing with them an ample 

 supply of the optimum condimentum, did full justice, under the 

 canopy of heaven, within sound of the surge, oft there so angry, 

 but now hushed and gentle; while circling about them, or 

 freshly impressed upon their delighted recollection, were the 

 gulls, kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, cormorants, 

 terns, eider ducks, oyster-catchers, divers, and the rest of the 

 beautiful inhabitants of those bird-loving islets. 



And, certainly, it is to the Ornithologist that the Fames offer 

 the chief attraction. 



From time immemorial they have bsen a noted breeding 

 station for sea-birds, and still are, in spite of some adverse in- 

 fluences ; such as the indiscriminate destruction of eggs and 

 birds both for commercial purposes and by visitors for amuse- 

 ment, which was carried on to such an extent, that the rarer, if 

 not the commoner sorts, were in danger of being extirpated. 



In illustration, I may say- that a picnic party have been known 

 to kill and maim upwards of 150 birds in an afternoon, just for 

 amusemeat, by stone-throwing ; but chiefly I must instance, 

 gunners afloat. Immediately after the Ist August, on which day 

 the protection of the law under the " Wild Birds' Protection 

 Act" ceases, steamers have generally arrived, sometimes two at 

 a time, filled with gunaers, sometimes forty or fifty in each. 

 Panging up close to the Pinnacles, a fusillade commenced, and 

 the work of wanton slaughter was carried out upon the birds, 

 who would not leave their nesting places. Some were picked up, 

 but hundreds floated uselessly away, staining with their blood 

 not only the water, but the wing of time ! This has been often 

 repeated at intervals during the month. 



Under the management of the present lessees, there is every 

 reason to hope that this ancient and interesting station may be 

 preserved for the birds in comparative peace and safety. 



The Association, it is true, have no power to prevent persons 

 who are on the sea from shooting birds ; but still, they could 

 touch the steamer-evil in two ways. Firstly, by not themselves 

 taking, or allowing to be taken the first "clutches " or sittings 

 of eggs ; and secondly, by getting the close time extended, so 



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