THE PROTECTION OF WILD BIRDS IN ESSEX.
43
that the Club should take some action to induce the Essex County
Council to adopt the Act so far as the Essex shore-breeding birds
were concerned. In common with many other writers on the
subject, Mr. Christy pointed out that any attempt to stop bird-
nesting entirely was not only of very doubtful expediency, but it
would probably fail, as public opinion would be against any such
drastic and unfair measures. There are few birds whose eggs really
stand in need of protection, with the exception of the above named
shore-breeding species and the Owls. Mr. Christy is of opinion
that all small warblers and finches were never more numerous in
England than to-day, and there are many more species which have
increased quite as much as others have decreased. With most of
our Essex shore-breeding species, however, the case is very different.
Many have already been locally exterminated, and probably all will
disappear as breeders on the coast if protection is withheld for
another ten years. They are all ground-builders, and as they breed
largely in colonies their destruction is peculiarly easy. It is
noticeable that when a colony has been once exterminated the spot
is very often never again occupied, even though it may itself remain
quite unaltered. It would be very desirable to bring under the
protection of the new Act all the Terns, the Gulls, the Ducks, the
Ringed Plover, and the Oyster-catcher. These species (especially
the Terns) are highly ornamental and interesting, and as they are
also absolutely harmless they are in the highest degree worthy of
protection. In the "Birds of Essex" may be found many arguments
in favour of affording protection to these species. The Sandwich,
Arctic, and Common Terns are all extinct as breeders in Essex, but
they might return in future years if unmolested. The Lesser Tern
(an extremely ornamental bird) is certain to be lost to us within a
few years if not protected (see "Birds of Essex," pp. 259, 260). The
following extract from a letter from Mr. Harold Raeburn to Mr.
Christy will show how these birds become extinct :
" On a patch of sand and shingle, about four miles south of Harwich, I found
a few Lesser Terns nesting [these are the remnant of the strong colony mentioned
at the bottom of p. 259 of the "Birds of Essex."] I counted them carefully, and
I think that there were seven or eight pairs. I soon found six nests, containing
respectively 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, and 1 eggs. I selected one of the threes and also one
of the ones, which were very peculiarly marked. Just as I was leaving a party of
four men with guns (in the close time!) came over the sea-wall and made for the
shingle, off which they cleared every one of the eggs I had left.....If this
sort of thing is allowed to continue the Lesser Tern will soon, be extinct as a
breeding species in Essex. The place is so small that every egg may be easily