156 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



hundred Geese, one hundred and twenty Curlews, one hundred 

 and forty-four " Brewes," twelve Cranes, and "Wilde fowle 

 ynogh " were provided, they could only get four " Fesauntes" and 

 five " Herons and Bitores." So far as the wild birds are con- 

 cerned, these figures would be different at the present day. From 

 the fact that the cook had to kill the Egrets, Cranes, Herons, and 

 Bitterns, and in some cases save the blood for making a sauce, 

 it would appear that these birds were caught alive and kept till 

 required. This view is supported by the Act quoted below. 



The netting and snaring of Herons and other birds was, even 

 in 1503, a menace to the stock, and in that year a law was made 

 (19 Hen. VII. cc. 10, 11) forbidding the netting or trapping or the 

 killing of Herons except by hawk or longbow, under a penalty of 

 6s. 8d. What effect this Act had I cannot tell, but shortly 

 afterwards the native birds and their eggs had been systematically 

 harried " in such wyse that the brode of wyldefoulle is almost 

 therby wasted and consumed and dayly is lyke more and more 

 to wast and consume yf remedy be not therfore pvyded," &c. 

 (25 Hen. VIII. c. 11). This wise law protected the eggs of Crane, 

 Bustard, Bittern, Heron, Mallard, and other fowl ; the Egret is 

 not mentioned, but it is by no means the only omission. This 

 Act contains the admission that formerly " the King's Household 

 and the houses of Noblemen and Prelates [!] have been furnished 

 at reasonable prices, but now the birds are almost extinct." 



Unfortunately, an agitation ostensibly in favour of the wild- 

 fowlers led to a new Act (3 Ed. VI. c. 7) repealing or modifying 

 previous laws, and from this year we must date the beginning of 

 the end for many a British bird. The Egret, as we are told by 

 those who have studied it in its southern home, is peculiarly 

 unsuspicious of mankind, and there is no doubt it would be one 

 of the very first to disappear. I do not hesitate in thinking that 

 the bird was Ardea garzetta, and not A. alba. We do not know 

 enough to assume that it was an insular species with no living 

 representatives. A very few chance occurrences already give us 

 the privilege of adding the bird to our list, but I hope the foregoing 

 remarks will help to place it on a more dignified footing as a British 

 bird, " once very common, but now, owing to persecution, quite 

 extinct in England." Perhaps further study may settle the actual 

 species, for to quote Chaucer — and on birds too : " Out of olde 

 bokes in good eith cometh al this newe science that men lere." 



