66 



Bird Notes and News 



BIRD-PROTECTION 

 AUSTRALIA. 



IN 



Mr. Charles Barrett (Australian Army 

 Medical Corps) writes to the Society wliile 

 in camp at Victoria awaiting orders for 

 active service : — 



" The friends of bird life are an ever- 

 growing army in Australia, but the fight 

 against plume-hunters and egg-thieves is 

 still an uphill one. Collectors of skins 

 especially are doing much to make still rarer 

 some of our rarest birds. ' In the cause of 

 science,' thousands of beautiful creatures 

 are being slaughtered, and it is a wonder to 

 me how men who call themselves bird-lovers 

 can also be collectors. 



" Now for the brighter side. The Gould 

 League of Bird Lovers continues to flourish 

 and in Victoria alone has about 60,000 

 members. Many leading citizens are show- 

 ing practical interest in the League, which 

 proposes shortly to enter upon a scheme for 

 erecting nest-boxes and providing food- 

 tables and baths for wild birds in State 

 school grounds, parks, and public gardens. 



" This militarj^ camp is situated in a large 

 and beautiful park, and in leisure hours I 

 do some bird observing. Sparrows and 

 Starlings are very numerous, and so tame 

 that I can, by sitting very still in my tent, 

 see them feeding a few feet away." 



[Mr. Barrett, if in London in wdnter-time, 

 would perhaps be surprised to see Sparrows, 

 Pigeons, and Gulls feeding almost from the 

 hands of their benefactors]. 



" Often, too, the blithe song of a Skylark 

 delights my ears. Of native birds, I have 

 noted the lovely scarlet-breasted Robin, the 

 Ground Lark (Meadow Pipit), Welcome 

 Swallow, Rosella Parrot (feeds in the gum- 

 trees on the outskirts of the Park), Honey- 

 eaters of several species, and the Pied 

 Grallina {Grallina j^icata). The Grallina is 

 popularly known as the Mud -Lark. It 

 builds a large mud nest of the size and shape 

 of a small pudding-basin, on a horizontal 

 bough. A study in black and white, this 

 graceful bird frequents pools and marshy 

 places, pattering daintily over the mud in 

 search of pond snails. The snails are the 

 intermediate host of the liver fluke (so 

 dreaded by sheep-farmers) so that the 

 Grallinas are birds of great economic value." 



BIRD-PROTECTION IN RUSSIA. 



Considerable interest in the better pro- 

 tection of birds is being manifested in Russia, 

 and several letters on the subject have been 

 received by the R.S.P.B., making enquiries 

 as to the laws in force in Great Britain and 

 her Colonies for the preservation of birds and 

 of wild nature in general. From Kharkow 

 M. Zakharoff writes : 



" In Russia all protection is reduced to 

 the founding of some reserves for birds, such 

 as, for example, have been formed in 

 Caucasia for the protection of the Francolin. 

 Some horticulturists and country gentlemen 

 occupy themselves "with the protection of 

 birds. The Department of Agriculture has 

 founded preserves for Zibelines in Siberia, 

 which should have great importance for the 

 protection of the fauna of that region. One 

 of these has an extent of 60 verstes by 70 

 [roughly, 45 miles by 50] ; the other 40 by 

 50 verstes. There are also some smaller 

 ones. The Imperial Geographical Society 

 has instituted a Commission for the Pro- 

 tection of Nature ; and this object is also 

 promoted by the Society of Naturalists of 

 Riga and the Society of the Friends of 

 Nature of Kharkow. 



"' This month there lias been formed at 

 Kharkow a Commission for the Protection 

 of Birds, who plan to circulate leaflets and 

 pamphlets among the people as much as 

 possible. It also organises the protection 

 of the birds in the park of the town. 



'' I should be very grateful if you would 

 give me some advice, especially as to the 

 propagation of the protection of Nature 

 among the j^oung." 



Russia was not one of the parties to the 

 International Convention of 1902, and with 

 regard to her legislation it is stated by Mr. 

 Holte Macpherson, in " Comparative Legis- 

 lation for the Protection of Birds " (R.S.P.B. 

 1909) that none has been enacted, except by 

 way of local regulations, since 1892. Under 

 the Agricultural Code of that year close 

 seasons are provided for all game birds and 

 for other species, except birds of prey, there 



