Bird Notes and News 



35 



" Repeated complaints have reached this 

 Society of the use of these guns by careless 

 and mischievous boys and youths who obtain 

 them without difficulty or restriction and 

 who pay no licence. 



" Air-guns are frequently made use of : — 



(a) for shooting at, maiming, and killing 

 wild birds, in disregard of legal prohibitions. 

 Such cases are so numerous that it is needless 

 to cite specific instances, but it may be 

 mentioned that one firm recentl}' advertised 

 their particular weapon in a boys' paper by 

 a picture of two Owls killed by this gun ; 



(b) for shooting at both wild and domestic 

 animals, injuring and irritating v^here no 

 gi-eater harm is done ; 



(c) for pointing at children and grown 

 persons, in play or with intent to intimidate, 

 and to the danger of the public. An instance 

 may be cited from the Middlesex Sessions 

 of April 8th last, when four members of a 

 gang of boj's were convicted of theft, and 

 it was shoAvii that this gang had become a 

 nuisance to the neighbourhood by shooting 

 at fowls and domestic animals, and had 

 stolen money from another boy by in- 

 timidating liim with a powerful Air-gun, 

 when the movement of a finger would have 

 meant a bullet in his braui. Cases are also 

 instanced in which, for pm'poses of theft, 

 youths have " held up " persons in charge of 

 small shops, and in which trains have been 

 shot at, to the manifest danger of the 

 passengers. 



" The likelihood of persons not observed by 

 the shooter being hit and injiu'ed b^^ missiles 

 from these weapons, is obvious, and has been 

 demonstrated by various accidents ; and 

 several cases have been reported to the 

 Society of injuries to children arising out of 

 attempts to shoot animals and birds. 



" A toy pocket-pistol has been held to be 

 a gun withm the meaning of the Act 

 (Campbell v. Hadley, 40 J.P. 756), and a 

 licence should be required if it is an in- 

 strument '" from which any shot, bullet, or 

 other missile can be discharged." 



From the replies received it appears 

 that the authorities in several coimties 

 have been active in checking this nuisance, 



and that not a few prosecutions have taken 

 place recently ; in one county twelve 

 were instituted in one month. " My 

 Council," comments the Town Clerk of 

 Liverpool, " have always paid close attention 

 to the use of Air-gmis in the City, as some 

 time ago serious injuries resulted from 

 their misuse by children." In another 

 case it is mentioned that prosecutions have 

 also taken place in respect of pocket-pistols 

 and that a considerable number of these 

 have been confiscated by the Police. The 

 Chief Constable of Birmingham says : " We 

 have been in commmiication with the Home 

 Office on the subject, and have pointed out 

 that the existing law does not appear to 

 be strong enough to meet the present state 

 of things. I have also been in communica- 

 tion with the Military Authorities, suggestmg 

 that an Order should be made prohibithig 

 the sale of these articles except mider certain 

 restrictions." The Commissioner of Police 

 of the Metropolis issued a special notice 

 in June, "with a view to prevent these 

 dangerous and illegal practices," calling the 

 attention of sellers of air- and spring-guns to 

 the provisions of the Act, and stating that 

 the police had been instructed to enforce the 

 law strictly. 



Anyone finding boys or youths shooting 

 Wild Birds with these guns should at once 

 give information to the police. 



CHRISTMAS CARD. 



Mr. Ai'chibald Thorbum has kindly painted 

 one of his charming bird-pictures for the 

 annual greeting-card of the Royal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds. It is entitled 

 " Somewhere in France," and special verses 

 mil help to make it the most appropriate of 

 messages for the season 1916-17. 



