THE DARTFORD WARBLER 257 



years, and this is undoubtedly the best plan in 

 the case of all species which breed in colonies. 

 These are mostly sea-birds — gulls, terns, cor- 

 morants, guillemots, razor-bills, etc. Our rare 

 birds are distributed over the country, and in 

 the case of some, if a hundred pairs of a species 

 exist in the British Islands, a hundred or two 

 hundred watchers would have to be engaged. 

 But who that has any knowledge of what goes 

 on in the collecting world does not know that 

 the guarded birds would be the first to vanish ? 

 I have seen such things — ^pairs of rare birds 

 breeding in private grounds, where the keepers 

 had strict orders to watch over them, and no 

 stranger could enter without being challenged, 

 and in a little while they have mysteriously 

 disappeared. The "watcher" is good enough 

 on the exposed sea-coast or island where an eye 

 is kept on his doings, and where the large 

 number of birds in his charge enables him to do 

 a little profitable stealing and stiU keep up an 

 appearance of honesty. I have visited most of 

 the watched colonies, and therefore know. The 

 watchers, who were paid a pound a week for 

 guarding the nests, were not chary of their hints. 



