FOWLS OF THE AIR. 
11 
soil, who kills or catches any wild bird, whatsoever between March 
1st and August 1st in any year, commits an offence under the 
Wild Birds Protection Act, 1890. 
Let me return, in conclusion, to Caithness, where I have already 
dragged the reader once in this letter. There is no bird more 
typical of those northern wastes than the pretty snow-bunting. 
Let the wind rage never so fiercely, let the cold be never so 
intense—so long as a few acres of grass and rushes remain bare of 
snow, so long will merry little companies of these fowl congregate 
on them, chirruping incessantly and hunting for their frugal fare 
of small seeds. But when, as happened in 1895, deep snow 
wraj)s hill and dale in a common pallour, the snow-bunting must 
move elsewhere, driven not by cold, but by hunger. And thus it 
came to pass that, early in February, almost every one had left 
the country. Only two or three pairs of crafty old birds might be 
seen haunting the stackyards and threshing mills. 
Where had they gone ? I found an answer on reaching London 
on February 5th. A paragraph in a morning paper informed me 
that large quantities of snow-bunting had been seen about High- 
gate—a remarkable illustration of the severity of the weather. 
Of course, in that region, scores of them would be captured by 
cunning bird-netters. Never more might they see the iron cliffs 
of Hoy ; never more in the broadening light of spring cross the 
wide ocean to their beloved nesting-places in Arctic lands. They 
must beat out their little lives in the back slums of Bermondsey or 
Whitechapel, or linger till the advancing heat puts an end 
to their sufferings. For even Bechstein, the most skilful guardian 
of cage-birds, found it impossible to keep the snow-bunting alive 
in captivity for more than a few weeks, so impatient it is of a 
close or warm atmosphere. 
There are many doleful chapters such as this in the annals of 
the bird trade. 
Note.— The Committee of the Society for the Protection of Birds are indebted 
to Sir Herbert Maxwell and the Editor of Good Words for permission to include this 
valuable paper among the Society’s publications, but wish it to be understood that 
they are not responsible for, and do not necessarily agree with, all the opinions of 
the writer as expressed in this article. 
