^'°''^i^-l Bird ProfecHon in the Old World. 127 



1908 J "/ 



address last year on the bird protection in America, with 

 practical sugo^estiohs for Australians, has been widely read and 

 approved), I have ventured to take as the basis of my remarks 

 the subject of " Bird Protection in the Old World." 



Historical Sketch of the Ititernationnl Protection of Birds in 



Europe* 



From time immemorial the Germans have been fowlers ; 

 indeed, one of their monarchs (Emperor Frederick II., 1 194-1200) 

 has been designated the " Crowned Fowler." 



This national traditional inheritance may be also seen respec- 

 tively in the bird-protecting decrees of Lippe-Detmold (1777), 

 Saxe-Coburg (1809), and of the Grand Duke of Hesse (1837). 

 The last forbade the slaughter and sale of certain birds useful to 

 agriculture, and provided for the protection of their nests and 

 eggs. But the first to treat the bird protection question on a 

 scientific basis was Pastor Edward Baldamus, an ornithologist, 

 contemporary and friend of the celebrated Naumann, who, in 

 1845, at the first meeting of the German Ornithological Society, 

 at Kothen, presented a scheme for protection which the historian 

 states was " severely ignored." The following year Baldamus 

 laid his scheme before the committee of the Saxon Economic 

 Society. It was again "shelved." Ten years later (1856) 

 Baldamus reopened his scheme before the second General 

 Assembly of the German Ornithologists, but was again unsucces- 

 ful. Later-day enactments, however, justified Baldamus's attitude. 

 Surely he was a prophet before his time. 



Subsequently ('1868) the excessive increase of injury done by 

 insects, together with the decrease of birds, forced the German 

 farmers and foresters into the first practical movement regarding 

 protection. They appealed to the Austrian and Hungarian 

 Governments to join the other States to endeavour to bring 

 about an international agreement for the protection of animals 

 of value to agriculture and forestry. Both these Governments 

 agreed to support the German farmers on condition that the 

 movement was restricted to the protection of birds tiseful to 

 agriculture. This suggestion was the beginning of international 

 protection of birds in Europe, but, as we shall see, it was not till 

 after many vicissitudes and conventions, extending over a period 

 of more than 30 years, that an international policy of bird-protec- 

 tion became an accomplished fact. 



Diplomatic negotiations were set afoot to provide for a friendly 

 reception of the cause of bird protection in the interests of 



* Abriflfjed from " The International Convention for the Protection of Birds, 

 conchided in 1902 ; and Huni^ary. Historical Sketch, writen liy order of His 

 Excellency Ignatius de Dar;'uiyi, Huntj^rian Minister of Agriculture, by Otto 

 Herman, late M.P. , Director of the Hungarian Central Bureau for Ornithology. 

 Budapest, 1907." 



