NATURE NOTES. 
1 54 
that we lost it long ago, before “ collectors ” were heard of, when 
sportsmen were few and weapons not very efficient. The eggs of 
the crane were protected by an Act passed in the reign of Henry 
VIII., but Willughby, in 1676, could not assert that the birds 
bred in the English fens at that date. Pennant wrote (1776) 
that the inhabitants of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire were 
scarcely acquainted with the crane (as a visitor). And he was 
only able to mention a single instance of it being seen in the 
island in his time. A glance at the present distribution of the 
crane in the breeding season leaves little room for wonder that 
it should have deserted England so long ago. At the present day 
we certainly could not afford a large shy species like this a suit- 
able habitat. To read the experiences of Woolly in Lapland 
should teach us this. 
Let us, by all means preserve, by the most rigorous measures 
available, the resident species and summer residents which seem 
in any danger of extermination. Above all, let us keep a watch- 
ful eye on the egg-collector, who, not even content with a huge 
“series” of “whole clutches” collected by himself, makes it 
worth the while of the dealing collector to go out and “ work ” 
districts where rarest species are to be found and plunder the 
nests. It is greatly to be regretted that some amateur (save the 
mark !) naturalists “ work ” their own districts for the same 
purposes. We may hope that some good will be done by the 
Bill now before Parliament, if it has the good fortune to become 
law. The chief mischief now is done by the egg-collectors. 
People are shy of openly breaking the law with the gun, and 
shooting protected birds in the close time. The dealing collector 
has had his wings clipped with regard to the birds, but with 
regard to eggs he still spreads abroad his snares, and flourishes. 
The harm done by the “ whole clutch ” collector is enormous. 
If no young birds are reared by a rare species, represented in a 
district by only a few pairs, the species must die out in the locality 
in time. It has been said by these collectors that it is better to 
take the “ whole clutch ” of eggs rather than to leave one, two, 
or three eggs, because in the former case the birds build or lay 
again and rear a whole brood instead of only one, two, or three 
young birds. But what security have we that another “ whole 
clutch ” man will not take the second nest ? And again, it can- 
not be so well for a species to be reared only from second layings. 
If a species breeds naturally early in the spring, it is a proof that 
there is some good reason for its young being reared up early in 
the season. But we must remember that “ whole clutch ” 
collecting has been extensively practised only in, comparatively 
speaking, recent years. 
But after all, it is well not to cry “ wolf” loudly when there 
is only a fox prowling round. We have still, and I believe we 
shall long have, a very interesting and a wonderfully varied avi- 
fauna within the small area of the British islands. And it would 
not be difficult to find a country where the “ hateful monotony,” 
