CH. V.] PLEA FOR RARE BIRDS. 211 
many of them, alas! never to return to the country 
which afforded them the shelter they have been 
here denied. Were such occasional visitors pro- 
tected, instead of being hunted to the death, as 
they are at present, it is not only possible, but, I 
think, probable, that some at least might be 
induced to remain permanently with us, and thus 
become naturalised in our Islands, while others, of 
the purely migratory class, might return periodi- 
cally to our shores in increasing numbers. I 
would not go the length of saying that an excep- 
tional case may not now and then occur, when the 
ends of science may be advanced by the acquisi- 
tion of an individual of rare or doubtful species, 
but I should indeed be glad if my humble voice 
could be echoed by a general protest against the 
indiscriminate destruction of birds merely because 
they are rare. 
P2 
