^"'.■pls"] ^^^^ Protection in the Old World. 131 



alive in Hungary, and the organisation of the second Congress 

 was taken over by the Hungarian Minister of Pubh'c Instruction, 

 chief!}' because the Permanent International Ornithological 

 Committee proved unworkable. Its members were scattered 

 all over Europe. Therefore it is easily understood that the com- 

 mittee never met. The president and secretary held communi- 

 cation by letter only, acted apart, and spent the money voted 

 by the States independently. This led to an open breach 

 between the Brunswick president and the Vienna secretary, and 

 the committee of portentous name, which should have been an 

 important body, became incapacitated. Accordingly, the Hun- 

 garian Minister of Public Instruction (Count Albin Csaky) 

 approved of a committee of management chosen by the Royal 

 Hungarian Natural History Society, with Dr. Geza Entz (as 

 chairman) and Otto Herman (as secretary), while the Govern- 

 ment was represented by Imre Szalay, Ministerial Councillor. 

 This committee was formed at the end of 1889, and at once 

 entered into the work of organisation for the second International 

 Congress, which met at Budapest, Whitsuntide, 1891. The 

 Congress in all sections was a brilliant success, the Continental 

 ornithologists being especially pleased because it was the first 

 occasion on which Britishers took part in an international 

 ornithological gathering on the Continent. Dr. R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, of the British Museum, was present, as also was Dr. 

 Arthur Chadbourne and- Dr. Lewis Bishop (of U.S.A.), while 

 those who were requested to treat the several questions sent 

 reports, viz. : — Cordeau.x, Sclater, and Newton, of Great Britain, 

 as well as celebrities from other countries — Fiirbringer. the Ger- 

 man anatomist ; Giglioli, the Italian ornithogeograph ; Paimen, 

 the Finnish ornithobiologist ; and Oustalet, the French ornithol- 

 ogist. The Congress was opened by the Minister of Agriculture 

 (Count Andrew Bethlen) and closed by the Minister of Public 

 Instruction (Count Albin Csaky). Class VI. dealt with every- 

 thing relating to the economic significance of birds, including 

 the question of international bird protection. Not the least 

 interesting of its proceedings was a digest of the operative bird 

 laws of the .several European States. At this Congress it was 

 resolved to return to the Austro-Italian "declaration" of 1875 

 The clock was thus put back 16 years, but a successful ending 

 was in sight. 



Germany, in 1892, endorsed the " declaration " of 1875. Then, 

 after a delay due to the circumlocutive nature of diplomacy, 

 France, in 1895, invited the States of Europe to appoint 

 delegates to attend a conference at Paris to further discuss the 

 question of international bird protection. After much discussion, 

 not without critical junctures, a draft argument containing 15 

 clauses, with 2 schedules (useful birds and noxious birds) was 

 prepared, and unanimously adopted by the International 



