A number of bird-lovers, including that prince of sanctuary- keepers,
Mr. Jim Vincent, have been raising a lamentation about the destructive fondness of oologists, photographers, and even inquisitive ornithologists. Mr. Vincent, in his bitterness goes so far as to say (in a letter to the Field) that the best friends of birds are those who take no sort of interest in them, and so avoid their nesting haunts. Let me very briefly examine the three classes of men in the pillory. The egg-stealers seem to be increasing their activity. It is said that the standard price for the location of a nest of the golden eagle is four pounds and expenses, and of a green- shanks' three pounds and expenses. However this may be, eggs of nearly all the rarer birds have their price, and as the price rises with the rarity, the danger of a species being extin- guished is real and instant. It is perfectly true that a good proportion of the greatest experts are oologists ; but they are in the class of Tom Tulliver, who was very fond of birds— that is, of throwing stones at them. Some oologists, of course, behave with decent discrimination. It is the general trade that does the harm.
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