Photographers make hundreds of birds abandon their nests. Now many
birds desert very readily in the early stages, but are bold as brass in the later. In general, photographers prefer the photography of the young. Eggs make a poor picture as a rule, though some photographers are brutal enough to tip a nest sideways and tear away protective screens in order to get sight of the clutch. The trouble is that often the camera must be set in position some while before the picture is taken, and the unlovely thing is apt to frighten the birds from their nests. That very rare hawk, the kite, has suffered from this sort of photography. Curiosity about birds is becoming so widespread and intense that their defenders are growing more and more shy of admitting visitors to sanctuaries, and the need for more bird-watchers becomes an increasing burden on the finance of the sanctuary. Birds desert merely because the number of inquisitive persons is more than they can stand. On the subject of diminishing species more information is still desired on the subject of the corncrake. So far as the survey has gone the bird, as a nesting species, seems to be almost extinct over wide districts of Southern England.
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