THE BRITISH AVIFAUNA. 
151 
THE BRITISH AVIFAUNA— ITS CHANGES AND 
PRESENT CHARACTER. 
( Concluded from page 12^.) 
S to the idiosyncrasies of birds, we may take the instance 
of Baillon’s crake, of which Mr. Hudson says that there 
is reason to believe that it was once a summer resident 
and breeder in Great Britain. If it was ever so, in any 
numbers, it is difficult to imagine how the bird destroyer could 
have been the occasion of its loss to us. How long Avould it take 
to exterminate the “British race” of corncrake, water rail and 
spotted crake ? It may safely be stated that if Baillon’s crake 
chose to come here to breed — had indeed ever chosen to come in 
any numbers — it would take, or have taken still longer to ex- 
tirpate this small, shy, skulking bird. We may say the same of 
some others. Many birds for some obscure reasons are always 
local in their distribution ; others suffer much from bad weather 
and changes in the face of the country. The Dartford warbler, 
for instance, wants a well-bushed furzy heath or common, and is 
liable to be almost exterminated in severe seasons by great 
snow-storms. It really seems that some species exist with us 
only on sufferance as it were, holding on with difficulty so long 
as circumstances continue favourable, and liable to be wiped 
out at any time when the conditions of life become unpropitious. 
The sand grouse came in flocks, and many of them had pro- 
tection, but they could not hold on at all. 
Again, some birds are shy by nature, and will not bear the 
presence of man. This can be noticed in the avifauna wherever 
you go. It is doubtful whether the great bustard, even if not 
persecuted, could have borne to live in our crowded England, 
especially agricultural East Anglia, once its home. Mr. 
Hudson says; “ It was, in other words, deliberately extirpated.” 
But Stevenson writes : “ Its extirpation was doubtless caused by 
man, but indirectly .... Its chief destroyer was most 
assuredly the agriculturist.” Finding that his crops wanted 
shelter he planted long belts of trees. “ This intersecting of 
the open country was intolerable to the bustard, which could 
not bear to be within reach of anything that might conceal an 
enemy.” The change from rye to wheat growing, the use of 
the drill and the hoe caused the destruction of most of the eggs, 
as the birds nearly always bred in the winter corn. No one 
can read Stevenson’s charming “ Introduction ” to the Birds of 
Norfolk without seeing at once the enormous effect of drainage 
and cultivation upon the English avifauna. 
This shyness is more remarkable in big birds than in small 
birds, and is perhaps one reason why the “ noblest ” forms dis- 
appear first. Gilbert White wrote long ago to Daines 
Barrington : “ Most kind of birds seem to me to be wild and shy, 
somewhat in proportion to their bulk The golden- 
