Vol. VI. 

 1907 



1 The Protection of Native Birds. qy 



It may be argued that the protection of our native birds is 

 purely a matter of sentiment, and that there is no " bread and 

 butter " in it. Indeed ! What about the value of our game 

 birds, if properly conserved, and the inestimable value of insec- 

 tivorous birds to the farmer, pastoralist, and fruit-grower ? More- 

 over, it has been truly said : — "A garden without flowers would 

 be a desolate waste." Wipe the birds off the continent of Aus- 

 tralia and the land would be worse than a waste — " a howling 

 wilderness." 



The Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand cannot 

 afford to be behind the rest of civilised nations in matters per- 

 taining to bird protection. In the Old World, the British Isles, 

 France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, India, 

 Japan, &c., have taken steps to prevent the indiscriminate 

 destruction of useful birds, while in the New World, the United 

 States have set an example in model laws and regulations not 

 only dealing with birds but with game of all kinds. 



(d) Bird Protection in America. 



Regarding the protection of birds, the Australasian Orni- 

 thologists' Union might act as a kind of honorary advisory 

 board to the various State Governments by framing a model 

 bill after the fashion somewhat of that of the American States. 

 Let us see what lessons can be learnt from the great older 

 Commonwealth. 



First, regarding the history of protective legislation. In 1885 

 the Legislature of New Jersey passed a bill, introduced by 

 Senator Griggs, forbidding the killing of certain named birds or 

 any insectivorous or song species not generally known as a game 

 bird. This was probably the first elaborate bird law passed to 

 protect all the birds that could not be strictly deemed game 

 birds. In 1886 the Committee on Bird Protection (originally 

 consisting of six members with power to add to their number) 

 of the American Ornithologists' Union drafted a bill which 

 differed from all previous laws by defining game birds and pro- 

 tecting all others (except a few known to be injurious). This 

 method of defining the species to be protected has been adopted 

 so far by twenty-eight States. It is claimed that there is the 

 advantage of clearness, simplicity, and completeness, which is 

 not the case with the laws framed on the old lines. The Act* 

 proposed by the American Ornithologists' Union was certainly 

 very concise, and only contained nine (9) sections. 



In 1898 the Hoar Bill for the protection of song birds was 

 brought before Congress. Then followed the Teller Bill, in 1899, 

 " to regulate the shipment of wild game from one State to 

 another." Then was approved by Congress, in 1900, the Lacey 



* An Act for the protection of birds and their nests and eggs. 



