302 Grabham : Breeding of the Lesser Terns at the Spurn. 



robber the Carrion Crow. I should like to see the law properly 

 enforced. What is the good of it if it is not ? An Osprey was 

 shot this year in full breeding plumage, and in open defiance of 

 the law, during the close time, at Scarborough, a most iniquitous 

 and selfish proceeding, for the bird would have given much 

 pleasure by its evolutions on and over the mere to many bird 

 lovers, and yet the offender has never been brought to book. 

 I would have every bird that was not proved to be distinctly 

 injurious to agricultural or horticultural produce, or in other 

 ways mischievous, properly protected by a proper law, properly 

 enforced, and should any bona fide collectors desire eggs or 

 specimens of any particular species, they should, on payment of 

 a fixed. fee, receive a proper permit to acquire the same. 



To return to the Lesser Terns (Sterna minuta), a watcher 

 was put on by the East Riding County Council to look after 

 them during the breeding season, and that yeac they increased 

 and multiplied, but during the ensuing years they were so 

 harried by egg robbers that when I was down there to inquire 

 into the matter last year, the birds were so shy that they left the 

 few eggs that remained to them to the heat of the sun and sand 

 during the daytime, only returning to them at dusk when their 

 enemies had departed. Similarly, when the Ringed Plovers 

 were robbed in like manner some years ago, instead of nesting 

 in their usual places on the sand and shingle they were com- 

 pelled to take to the cornfields. This year, at the initiative of 

 Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, of Scampston Hall, we collected a 

 small fund to pay the expenses of a watcher, and Mr. Robinson, 

 of Kilnsea, gamekeeper to Colonel White, has most efficiently 

 acted the part of such. I wrote to most of the members of the 

 Yorkshire Wild Birds and Eggs Protection Acts Committee, and 

 to a few others who I knew were interested in preserving 

 from destruction our Yorkshire fauna and flora. From some 

 I received no response, but the following gentlemen most kindly 

 assisted, viz., Messrs. J. Backhouse, T. Bunker, John Gerrard, 

 Oxley Grabham, Claude Leatham, G. T. Porritt, W. H. St. 

 Quintin, who also provided a field-glass, and the Revs. H. H. 

 Slater and W. T. Travis. I feel it is only fair to all' those who 

 subscribed that I should give an account of my stewardship. 

 I forwarded the money to Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, and he most 

 kindly disbursed it, and I am very glad to hear that he has 

 a balance in hand, which we trust will be carried forward to 

 assist a similar fund next year, as it has not been required for 

 the costs of any prosecutions which we thought most likely 



Naturalist, 



