THE CAUSES OF THE DECREASE OE BIRDS. 
215 
authorities interested in bird de- 
struction.’ ? 
In England, according to Richard 
Jefferies, pheasant preserves have led 
to the partial or total extinction of 
eagles, ravens, the larger hawks, and 
buzzards, and the horned owls, as 
well as, to a less extent, the barn 
owl and the wood owl. The kestrel 
and sparrow hawk have survived 
without great diminution in numbers 
notwithstanding the constant perse- 
cution to which the} 7- have been sub- 
jected since the invention of the per- 
cussion cap. The sacrifice to trout 
has been equally great. Jefferies 
records how largely the birds that 
feed on fish or their eggs have been 
persecuted; “herons much reduced 
in numbers ; owls, reduced ; king- 
fishers growing scarce ; coots much 
less numerous because not permitted 
to nest; grebes, reduced; wild duck, 
seldom seen in summer because not 
permitted to rest; teal, same; swans 
not permitted on fisheries unless an- 
cient rites protect it ; divers never nu- 
merous, now scarcer; moorhens still 
fairly plentiful because their ranks 
are constantly supplied from moats 
and ponds where they breed under 
semi-domestic conditions.” These 
causes of bird decrease have had lit- 
tle influence in America and are 
never likely to be as important as 
they have been in Europe. 
