I think it was Lord Grey, who may be called
one of the -fathers of the water-bird sanctuary, who noticed that some - duck became tame directly they entered the pale, though they remained wild. even at a hundred- yards outside. This, of course, is not so in the bigger and lesa well-defined reserves ; but the general tameness is certainly increased, especially at the breeding time. They learn that man is friendly, and quite certainly are much less ready to desert their nests. Though some of the keepers are ruthlessly bombarded with requests to show this nest and that, and are too often troubled by trespassers, they seem to have taught the birds that even the handling of the nest is not a danger. I should say that the percentage of desertions within a sanctuary is vastly smaller than among birds outside, though the disturbances by curious visitors are vastly greater.
Previous page
