The Egg Harvest 
at Bempton. 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
(127) 
survive, the parents will invariably find and feed 
it again, flying seawards, and returning every 
ten minutes or so throughout the day with a 
fish. 
When one bears in mind the millions of birds 
that annually visit this great east coast breeding 
ground and the number of small fish they 
devour, the complaint of the fishermen concern¬ 
ing the destruction of fish life seems well 
founded. 
Sea birds, however, are by no means the only 
tenants of the Bempton Cliffs. Jackdaws innu¬ 
merable circle round the pinnacles, and Crows 
steal any eggs they can find unguarded. Near 
here, too, at one time, the Great Bustard 
flourished, and it is on record that in the early 
part of last century they were to be seen in great 
numbers, though they have long since disap¬ 
peared entirely. 
Two Victims of Fashion. 
The craze for wearing birds’ feathers in hats 
still continues, and it is unfortunately some of 
the most beautiful and remarkable birds in the 
world which are affected by it, and this is the 
Photo copyright by W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S. 
The Large Egret. 
This is one of the most widely distributed of birds, being 
found almost all over the world, though different specific 
names are assigned to the local races. It seems, however, 
to be nowhere an abundant species. 
more distressing, as all the feathers that any 
reasonable being could want to wear can be 
well obtained from birds killed for food, such as 
poultry and pheasants, to say nothing of ostrich 
feathers, now obtained from domesticated birds 
in farms. 
The two beautiful birds illustrated on this page 
are frequent victims to the “ plumassier,” the 
lovely fan-like crest of the Crowned Pigeon 
being too often seen on a lady’s hat, while the 
egret is one of the White Herons which furnish 
the so-called “ osprey ” plumes of the feather 
trade. These plumes are only worn in the 
breeding season, when they form a beautiful 
filmy mantle on the back of both sexes; the bird 
Photo copyright by iv. S . Berridge, F.Z.S 
The Crowned Pigeon. 
This magnificent bird is the largest of known pigeons 
equalling a small hen turkey in size. It is chiefly a ground 
bird and fiies comparatively little, though roosting and 
building in trees. 
in the picture is not in nuptial plumage, and so 
does not show them. The killing of the birds 
to obtain these plumes naturally leads to the 
starvation of the young, which perish wholesale 
in their nests, and hence the destruction inflicted 
is very great, to say nothing of the great cruelty 
involved. The Crowned Pigeon is also a bird 
which must suffer very severely By the raids of 
the feather-hunters, for it is not by any means 
prolific, only laying one'egg, instead of two 
like most pigeons, and it is, besides, an unwary 
bird and not at all difficult to shoot. 
Unless some international legislation can be 
managed to protect birds such as these, posterity 
will find that we have allowed some of the finest 
species of birds in the world to be exterminated 
for a very trifling cause. 
The Red-backed Shrike. 
A well-known summer migrant. 
