Bird Notes and News 



63 



IN THE COURTS. 



The Bird Shop. — At Bow Sired, on 

 October 8th, Cecil Isaacs, carrying on basiness 

 in Shaftesbury Avenue and Little St. 

 Andrew's Street, was convicted of cruelty 

 to a Thrush, two Linnets, and a Groldfinch, 

 and fined 20s. and £2 5s. costs. The Royal 

 Society for the Protection of Birds prose- 

 cuted, represented by Mr. Hany Wilson, 

 soHcitov. The Society's inspector found 

 the Goldfinches and Linnets in a very wild 

 and frightened condition, in filthy little cages, 

 V itli no water and veiy little food. There 

 were also six Hedge-Sparrows in a larger 

 cage, some with wongs broken, tail feathers 

 out, and head feathers rubbed off. Li the 

 second shop he found the Thrush in a still 

 worse state, in a very old and disgustingly 

 dirty wooden cage on a top shelf, with 

 putrid and sodden food. Defendant said 

 the birds were moulting and were fed and 

 watered daily ; he kept them in small 

 cages to prevent them from knocking 

 themselves about. Any birds caught and 

 caged would appear frightened. As a matter 

 of fact, every bird in captivity broke its 

 feathers. A bird-fancier named Lewer said 

 he found nothing to which anyone could 

 take exception, " but of course in a bird-shop 

 you could always find something if you 

 wanted to." Sir Albert de Rutzen said he 

 had never had a case of exactly the same 

 sort before him, and he would therefore 

 take a very lenient course, but he hoped it 

 would serve as a lesson to others ; it was a 

 very cruel thing to catch these wild birds 

 and put them in cages hardly big enough to 

 hold them, in which they knocked themselves 

 about. Defendant said the result of the 

 case would be that hundreds and thousands 

 of birds would be killed because dealers 

 would not feel it safe to keep them unless 

 they were in show form. ]\Ir. Wilson : That 

 will save a lot of suffering. 



The case, being the first one of the kind 

 brought \inder the Protection of Animals 

 Act of 1911, received considerable attention 

 in the Press. The Daily Express com- 

 mented (Oct. 9) : " The piteous sight of 

 dogs in cages, of cats drugged into a comatose 

 quiet, of song birds beating their wings 

 against bars, is common in every city — 

 common and, to the humane, hideous. 



There is no good reason or excuse for the 

 captivity of song birds at all events. The 

 perverted sense which can enjoy the notes 

 of Thrush or Blackbird singing a threnody 

 of captive bars finds its only parallel in the 

 perverted palate which longs for a lark on 

 toast." 



The Manchester Guardian : " The defen- 

 dant's evidence showed clearly the need 

 for the Act. Newly-caught birds were 

 regularly put in small cages ' to keep them 

 from knocking themselves about,' he said, 

 and ' every bird m captivity broke its 

 feathers.' He justified the Act even more 

 fully when he added, ' When this case is 

 reported hundreds of birds will be killed 

 because it is not safe to keep them.' Animal 

 lovers will agree that they are better dead 

 than captive imder conditions which the 

 Act penalises." 



The Star : " We hope the case marks the 

 beginning of a serious attempt to stop the 

 traffic in wild birds altogether, and there is 

 reason to believe it will, at any rate, do 

 much to check it. The stocks in the bird- 

 shops are only the survivals of thousands of 

 which the countrj'side near London is 

 robbed. It is a trade that we should be 

 weU quit of." 



Dundee Evening Telegraph : " The irony 

 of it is that many people buy these miserable 

 captives, and thus connive at the cruelty of 

 the business through a genuine but ignorant 

 love of living things. They like to have a 

 ' pet,' and birds are cheap." 



The BmD-CATCHER. — At West Ham, on 

 November 18, George Cooper was charged 

 with torturing a Sparrow. He was out 

 bird-catching on waste giound at Prince 

 Regent's Lane, Custom House, and for 

 decoy, said the pohce, had a Sparrow braced 

 with steel wire that lacerated its body 

 wherever it touched, so that the bird was 

 almost dead. He had also four tightly 

 pinioned Linnets beneath his nets and five 

 birds in cages. Two other bird-catchers 

 near ran away when the detective appeared. 

 Committed for trial at the Sessions. — At 

 Bristol, on October 11, Gteorge EUiott, 

 bird-catcher, was fined £1 for being in 

 possession of twenty-five Goldfinches, and 

 £1 for cruelty. The police came upon him 

 on Portbury Moor. The birds were in a 

 cage 16 inch by 6 inch, by 4i inch. ; twenty 



