The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-09

they some times bring them in carts to
Norwich, and sell them at small rates,
and the country people make use of their
eggs in buildings and otherwise The
black-headed gull was, and to some ex-
tent is still, the principal wild contribu-
tor to our egg supply except the rock foNy,
of the coast. At the celebrated cutlery in
Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk, the first eggs
are generally laid in the middle of March,
and none are taken after a certain time,
fixed yearly. according as the season is
early or late. As late as 1909 according to
Mr.. Thomas Southwell, from 5000 to 5000
eggs were taken annually from this one
colony. Several of the ancient galleries Of
Norfolk are now extinct. That near Wang
ford was destroyed, according to the evil
dence of a warrener who remembered the
"coddy moddies" as he called them, "by
taking their eggs too close" On the other
hand, fresh colonies have been established
elsewhere. Mr.. Southwell gives an inter-
esting account of their welcome at Hove
ton, whittier they migrated from Rollesby.
They came late in the season of 1854, hav-
ing been disturbed in their former breed
ing place. BY the spring of 1858 it was pos
sible to gather their eggs, and 700 were
taken. In 1861 and afterward 1000
eggs per annum were supplied. Rats were
their chief enemies. According to Mr.. Wal
ter Rye the weasel was described by a
Norfolk keeper as the g-suclxyest var
min" he knew. But a cutlery rat is as bad.
In the market in Holland all kinds of
large birds eggs appear for sale, and are
presumably intended to be eaten. Red
shanks', greenshanks and godwits are
the commonest in the market stalls of
South Holland, but one sees also the bright
blue eggs of the heron and those of wild
ducks. Formerly a very large trade was
done in wild-fowl eggs with the shepherds
of the Isle of Texel The north part of
the "TaxeP' Gas it is pronounced by the
Dutch is still called ''eyer-land-"egg-
land'-and it was from this district that
the supply was mainly drawn. In Fries
land, the Dutch Norfolk, where meres,
broad heaths and wild fowl abound, the
sheldrakes' are one of the minor sources
of pocket money to the villagers. Shell
brakes like to nest in burrow, in which
they would normally lay one setting of
eggs and then hatch them off. The Fries
landerS provide ready-made burrows, from
which a dozen nesting chambers radiate.
These artificial nests are made in a grass
covered sand hill, loose turf being laid
over each nesting chamber, which is re-
moved when the egg is taken, and then re-
placed. The strangest part of this ar
rangement is the tameness of the birds.
Several females use the same entrance,
and Will allow themselves to be handled.
They go on laying, regularly like hens,
until the middle, of June, when they are
IL
the first English naturalist who describ-
ed the wild life of the Tristan Islands,
noted that each Villager generally owned
one of these sheldrake lodging houses, and
that they were serupulously honest in not
taking each others eggs.
This is greatly to the credit of the FRS
ians, because egg stealing is not only an
almost universal frailty among rustics
of whatever nation, but it is the only form
OF crime which is generally recognized and
and labelled as larceny in the animal
community Every bird knows that the
other birds eggs are that birds property.
1t is not like young one, but a chattel;
and there is a dstanct criminal class
| among birds which knowingly steal eggs,
just as there is a respecta BILE class, the
great majority, who know that they have
to guard against this. Betwixt and be-
tween there is a doubtful stratum, repre-
sented in this country by rocks, starlings
(Which take lark's eggs. and gulls, who
are not habtual criminals, but are liable
to stray when temptation comes. The
professional egg-stealers among our birds
are the carrion crow, the magpie, the jay,
and the iackdaw. They have no mis-
givings whatever as to the edible proper
, ties of all eggs, though we never knew
an instance of the stealing from each
other. They are perfectly aware that they
are stealing, and their whole air and de-
meanor when so employed is different to
that which they wear when hunting for
legitimate food. The following cases may
be cited; In April, 1896, a wild duck was
disturbed from her nest in a copse in the
Isle of Wight An hour later a pair of
crows found the nest; it held eleven eggs.
rather too many for two crows break
fasts. They invited a few friends. ate all