Terence George Michael Smith

The Art of Armed Robbery

John Blake, 2003.

To our delight we found a specially adapted raised footpath which led from the banks of a lake at Regent's Park to the inaccessible island that bred and possessed some of the most beautiful British and tropical waterfowl in Great Britain...We would wade across the lake to the island and steal the rare and exotic birds' eggs under the watchful guardianship of the Royal Parks Police...Sometimes, if we had the money, we would hire a rowing boat and row under the protective chains to the main island and steal the birds' eggs to the great distress and anxiety of the combined duck, geese and swan population

Recounting his boyhood exploits, the author explains that he and his friends 'did all types of amazing and daring feats to acquire the best egg collection within our exclusive cadre.' Born in 1959, his criminal career had begun prior to these events and progressed eventually to armed robberies. Not surprising perhaps that he sees little wrong in robbing nests.

On another unofficial excursion we decided to invade London Zoo at Regent's Park and try to steal penguins' eggs from the architecturally acclaimed penguin enclosure. We would jump over the wall and calmly walk down the slopes to the wooden nesting boxes and nick their eggs in full view of amazed onlookers. During another time we visited the massive Snowdon Aviary at the Zoo. I climbed over the pedestrian footbridge, climbed up a metal pylon and nicked a white egret's egg under the noses of onlookers who were now level in height with the egret's nest. I know that it was a liberty but we egg collectors were fanatics, as it meant everything to have the best egg collection