EXOTIC BIRDS FOR BRITAIN 157 



which is not in harmony with our humane civili- 

 zation, it is to be hoped that a better method will be 

 adopted — that " finer way " which Thoreau found 

 and put aside his fowling-piece to practise. There 

 can be no doubt that the desire for such an improve- 

 ment is now becoming very general, that a kindlier 

 feeling for animal, and especially bird life, is grow- 

 ing up among us, and there are signs that it is even 

 beginning to have some appreciable effect. The 

 fashion of wearing birds is regarded by most men 

 with pain and reprobation ; and it is possible that 

 before long it will be thought that there is not much 

 difference between the action of the woman who 

 buys tanagers and humming-birds to adorn her 

 person, and that of the man who kills the bittern, 

 hoopoe, waxwing, golden oriole, and Dartford 

 warbler to enrich his private collection. 



A few words on the latest attempt which has been 

 made to naturahze an exotic bird in England will 

 not seem out of place here. About eight years ago 

 a gentleman in Essex introduced the rufous tinamou — 

 a handsome game bird, nearly as large as a fowl 

 — ^into his estate. Up till the present time, or till 

 quite recently, these birds have bred every year, and 

 at one time they had increased considerably and 

 scattered about the neighbourhood. When it began 

 to increase, the neighbouring proprietors and sports- 

 men generally were asked not to shoot it, but to give 



