282 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



received a single specimen from J. C. Anderson, Esq., which 

 was found dead on the shore of North Tyne, near Lee Hall. 



Thus we find recorded eighty-two captures of the Waxwing 

 within our district. These however are apparently but a small 

 portion of the number which have fallen a sacrifice to the too 

 ardent affection of their admirers ! These beautiful birds have 

 been slaughtered in almost every part of England ; and I am 

 informed by my friend, Mr. Gurney, that in Norfolk alone ninety 

 specimens were killed. 



It is certainly painful to see the wholesale destruction of these 

 charming visitants ; but it is nevertheless rather amusing to read 

 in certain prints expressions of indignation at such extensive 

 slaughter — the writers at the same time pointing out the desira- 

 bility of rather inducing these interesting strangers to take up 

 their residence with us. Such remarks betray much ignorance 

 as to the nature of these chance migrations. The utmost slaugh- 

 ter that can take place on these occasional visits cannot tend, in 

 the least perceptible degree, to diminish tbe aggregate number 

 of these species, and a very little knowledge of Natural History 

 suffices to show that these birds must return to the homes from 

 whence they have come. The Chatterer, for instance, is com- 

 pelled, by its economy and instincts, to retire to the far North 

 for a breeding station ; and the Sand Grouse, which appeared in 

 such vast numbers on our shores two or three years ago, is 

 adapted by its organization to an arid country, and appears but 

 ill-suited to our humid climate. 



It would be well, however, if such sympathizers with the 

 sufferings of the feathered tribes would raise their voices against 

 the lamentable destruction of our finest and most ornamental 

 home birds, perpetrated by game-keepers, under the sanction of 

 their masters, whose better educated tastes might be supposed 

 to tend to a just appreciation of the beauties of nature. The 

 larger and most interesting of the feathered inhabitants of our 

 woods, plains, and uplands, are rapidly disappearing, and will 

 before long cease to exist as a feature in the rural scenery of our 

 country. 



If the whole of the chance visitants to our shores were shot 



