Vol. XXII. 

 1923 



State Secretaries' Reports. 249 



rrovisiun is made in ihe Act, whereby any l)ird may be re- 

 moved from the protected Hst, or, likewi.se, added, or the i)ro- 

 tection may be removed in certain districts only. It is unlawful 

 for any person to take a dog or firearm into any sanctuary, in 

 in any way do anything likely to cause any bird to leave such an 

 area. A fine of £10 is liable to be imposed on any person who 

 unlawfully takes or kills any bird or animal within a sanctuary, 

 with a further fine of £1 for each animal or bird so taken or 

 killed. Similar fines are proxided for any person convicted ot 

 shooting imported and native game during a close .-reason. 



In the shooting of game, the use of metal-[)atched or metal- 

 cased bullets, heavy guns, cylin'ders, silencers, and live decoys 

 is prohibited. The Minister may authorise any person to catch 

 or take any j)rotected l)ird, or the eggs of any protected bird, for 

 any scientific or other purpose approved by him. For shooting 

 game without a licence, a person is liable to a fine of £20; for 

 taking or killing any ])rotected bird, or selling, offering for sale, 

 or having in his possession any protected bird or the Q.^g of 

 any such bird, or robbing or destroying or having in his posses- 

 sion the nest of any ])rotected bird, a ])erson is liable to a fine 

 of £25 for every such offence. 



These provisions are very drastic, but unfortunately, the law 

 is practically a dead letter, as far as birds outside of game birds 

 are concerned. Occasionally a person is fined for shooting 

 native pigeons or |)ukekos. But for every one fined, there are 

 probably a hundred who escape detection. It remains, however, 

 for the act to be enforced, and our native birds w^ould receive 

 adequate protection. 



New Zealand is very fortunate in the number of sanctuaries 

 it possesses for bird-life. All reserves under the Scenery Pro- 

 tection Act are sanctuaries, and as these amount to 313..>33 acres, 

 it will be seen that these alone afford considerable protection. 

 Piesides these, many other areas, amounting to thousands of 

 acres, are reserved as sanctuaries. The Sounds National Park, 

 embracing the West Coast Sounds of the South Island, and cov- 

 ering 2, .^26.200 acres, is one huge refuge for our birds. Orni- 

 thologists and bird-lovers generally should congratulate them- 

 selves on this satisfactorv state of affairs. — R. H. D. v^Tidolph, 

 R.A.O.U., Masterton, N.Z. 



Xew South Wales. 

 The inaugural meeting of the Ornithological Section of the 

 Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and New South 

 Wales members of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 

 was held in the Royal Zoological Society's rooms on 21st April, 

 1922, and there was an attendance of ele\en members. The fol- 

 lowing officers were appointed : — 



Chairman : Dr. E. A. D'Ombrain. 



Vice-Chairman : Mr. P. A. Gilbert. 



Hon. Sec. : Mr. Neville \\'. Cayley. 



