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Meadow Pipits, and Dunlins breed in very considerable num¬ 
bers. I saw dozens of nests, many on the point of hatching, that 
had been covered with water and totally destroyed. The 
result was that many birds forsook the place, and only very 
few young were reared by those who nested the second time. 
The other instance w r as the destruction of Swallows, Martins, 
and Sandmartins by a gale of wind in April last, which killed 
thousands, and was pretty general throughout the country, as 
reports all testified to the same result; in many instances 
dashing them against walls and buildings. An eye-witness 
informed me that at the foot of an engine-house wall at one 
of the reservoirs you might have filled a bushel measure with 
these dead birds. There is little doubt that, owing to the cold 
weather, food was scarce. These Hirundines were therefore 
weak, and unable to cope with a gale of this magnitude ; some 
I examined were in a most emaciated condition, and had every 
appearance of being starved. 
Enormous loss of life occurs during migration from various 
causes; the lanterns of lighthouses claim their tale of victims, 
many being attracted by the light, and striking the glass, 
kill themselves. Telegraph wires are often the means of 
destruction, and very effectually they do the work ; I have 
seen birds, some of large size, nearly cut in two by a wire. 
The improvement in guns has had a material effect in 
reducing the number of birds, especially since the introduction 
of breech-loaders; but this case would apply chiefly to 
the slaughter committed at our marine breeding stations, 
where such birds as the Guillemot and Razor Bill abound, 
who in ages past were practically unmolested by man, and 
simply had to provide for the larders of a few Peregrine Falcons 
that might occupy the same cliff. I think it can safely be 
said that in Great Britain at all events, for many years past, 
circumstances hostile to the increase of birds have greatly 
increased. Not only are birds at the present time compelled 
to combat against those evils that naturally exist, and always 
have co-existed with themselves, but they have also the 
inventions and scientific adjuncts of this civilized age to 
contend with, which leaves the bird beaten in every encounter 
and at all points. To remedy this state of affairs, several 
Acts of Parliament have been passed at various times for the 
protection of birds, but before touching upon them I should 
like to refer to one or two species whose extermination in 
this country can be traced directly to the actions of man and 
to him alone. Notably, the Great Auk comes first, which 
became extinct about 1845, and the last British specimen, 
according to Yarrell’s “British Birds,” Yol. iv., p. 64, “was 
