4 



authority on its own initiative to issue a suitable 

 order or to modify an existing order. 



Bird Sanctuaries. 



The Committee have taken several leaves 

 from the Society's book, and possibly these are 

 the suggestions which will have most un- 

 divided supiDort from the pubUc. The pro- 

 vision of watchers for protected areas, the 

 erection of bird-rests at lighthouses, the 

 establishment of Bird Day in Schools, are three 

 things in which the initiative has been taken 

 and the spadework done by the Eoyal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds, who have for years 

 successfully carried out all three movements. 

 It is fairly certain that but for the enterprise 

 and work of the Society none of these things 

 would have had a place on the Committee's 

 programme. 



It is recommended that power to create 

 sanctuaries should be made use of as far as 

 possible by the central and local authorities, 

 but stress is laid on the importance of regular 

 watching. 



" Watchers are practically essential if an area is 

 to be in fact as well as in name a sanctu?ay for wild 

 life." 



The subject of Nature Reserves has, it is 

 confessed, scarcely been touched in this country 

 except by private individuals and societies at 

 their own expense. 



It is further advised that there should be 

 complete protection for all birds and nests 

 in all Royal Forests, with a provision allowing 

 keepers and other authorised persons to kill 

 or take particular birds and to take their eggs 

 for approved purposes. This covers the New 

 Forest, where want of adequate protection has 

 been a good deal commented on in the past. 



Rare Birds and Collectors. 



" The -present laiv is obviously mcapable of 

 preserving rare species and their eggs.- In the 

 future there must be no easy road for the collector 

 to record his examination ' in the flesh ' of every 

 rare bird that tries to enter or breed in this 

 country ; for the egg-dealer to advertise openly 

 for clutches of eggs of rare and useful birds; 

 for the bird-sty ffer to cover the slaughter of protected 

 birds. Possession must rank ivith taking in the 

 case of bird and egg alike." — {Bird Notes and 

 News.) 



There are no specific clauses in the Report 

 concerning the collector beyond those dealing 

 with taxidermists and with sale and possession. 

 and the attempt to limit his operations by 



protecting certain birds and eggs throughout 

 the kingdom. 



" It should be made quite clear in any future law 

 that the possession by a ta,xidermist, for whatever 

 purpose, of any bird, egg, or nest illegpJly taken is 

 illegal." 



At j)resent the taxidermist is supposed 

 technically not to " possess " the bird he holds, 

 and naturally he does not give away his cus- 

 tomers. The suggestion made by Mr. Lemon, 

 on behalf of the R.S.P.B., that taxidermists 

 should be required to keep a register of birds 

 and eggs brought to them, and that such register 

 should be open to inspection by authorised 

 persons, is regarded as a useful precaution and 

 one which would assist in carrying out the law ; 

 but, adds the Report, " we feel that taxidermists 

 generally would resent very strongly any pro- 

 posal to give the police powers to inspect their 

 registers." Who, then, should be the " author- 

 ised persons," and, without inspection, what 

 the value of registers ? 



It is proposed that possession or offer for 

 sale of protected nest or egg be constituted an 

 offence. 



Birdcatching. 



" The Acts have notoriously proved insufficient 

 to deal ivith the catching of birds and their confine- 

 ment in the vilest little boxes ever invented for 

 the imprisonment of ivild winged creatures." 

 — [Bird, Notes and News.) 



The Committee in their comments deal in 

 an oddly tender fashion with the birdcatcher. 

 The trade is " of great antiquity," and they 

 " have no desire to see it interfered with, 

 provided proper safeguards are established." 

 It "enables working-men to earn an honest 

 livelihood." Much no doubt de])ends upon 

 what is considered an " honest livelihood." 

 The man v/ho takes a Pheasant commits a 

 crime ; the man who takes a hundred Skylarks 

 (far more useful birds to the community) is 

 an honest worker ! 



" In the case of professional birdcatchers we were 

 told, and we readily believe it, that the trade was 

 unattended with cruelty." 



On this point the Committee might well 

 consult, beside the catcher, the magistrates, 

 police, and R.S.P.C.A., and the records of 

 convictions against professionals. They might 

 then believe less readily. The trade, it is 

 admitted, is very large. 



" We were told that an average week's catch by one 

 man would be 6 dozen, while catches of 18 dozen 

 a week and 5 — 7 dozen a day by professionals were 

 mentioned." 



