298 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



of last century. Doubtless it was a great thing 

 to bring down this great bird "that soars sublime" 

 and nail it to the barn-door. By the middle of 

 the last century it had become a rarity, and the 

 ensuing rush for specimens and eggs for private 

 collectors quickly brought about its virtual ex- 

 tinction. The kite is but one of several species — 

 six of them hawks — extirpated within the last 

 forty years. Why, then, does the daw, more in- 

 jurious to the game-preserver and henwife than 

 any one of these lost hawks, continue to flourish 

 and increase in numbers? It is, I imagine, be- 

 cause of the growth of a sentiment which favours 

 its preservation. But it is not the same as that 

 which has served to preserve the rook and made 

 it so common. That is a sentiment confined to 

 the landowning class — to those who inherit great 

 houses where the ancient rookery with its crowd 

 of big, black, contentious birds caw-cawing on the 

 windy elms, has come to be an essential part of 

 the establishment, like the gardens and park and 

 stables and home-farm and, one might add, the 

 church and village. This sentiment differs, too, 

 from the heron-sentiment, which serves to keep 

 that bird with us in spite of the annual wail, ris- 



