28 



JOUKXAL OK THE WILD BIRD IWKSTK I ATIOX SOCIKTV. 



ping- tlie farmer and fruit orower, and rob- 

 Ijing the country of a food supply it is greatly 

 in need of. 



Under present ecomomic conditions we can 

 no longer afford to passively view the very 

 serious losses that are laid upon agriculture, 

 horticulture, forestry, and the fisheries. Too 

 long we have delayed. In the Report of 

 the Departmental Committee on the Fruit 

 Industry of Great Britain (1905), it was 

 pointed out that a great amount of damage 

 was done to crops by birds, especially bull- 

 finches, starlings, blackbirds, thrushes, and 

 sparrows. The Committee stated: "There 

 can be no doubt that this grievance is well 

 founded. The destruction of all vermin in 

 countrv districts, the curtailment of the area 

 of cultivation and the protection afforded to 

 wild birds by recent legislation, have upset 

 the balance of Nature, so to speak, with the 

 result that they have multiplied to such an 

 extent as to become a positive pest in some 

 places." Nearly fourteen years have gone 

 bv since the issue of this report, during which 

 time most of the above-mentioned species 

 have greatlv increased in numbers, and all 

 that has been done is to sanction an onslaught 

 upon poor, imoffending Game birds, which 

 apart from the spnrt they provide, afford a 

 \aluable source of home-grown food. As 

 regards the protection of our beneficial species 

 nothing whatever has been done. 



In the interests of agriculture, fruit-grow- 

 ing, forestry, and the fisheries, it , is surely 

 time that a subject so intimately connected 

 with these callings should receive greater 

 attention. The Governments of other 

 countries have not thought it foreign to the 

 interests of their people to spend large sums 

 of monev upon the maintenance of special 

 departments, with expert and experienced 

 investigators concerned only with this sub- 

 ject, and, so far as we can judge, their outlay 

 has proved a wise and statesmanlike action 

 in that it has, as the result of the knowledge 

 obtained, enabled them to frame just and 



simple laws, which have materiallv benefit'.ed 

 the worker on the land. 



It is surely patent that there never was a 

 period in the history of our country, when all 

 that fetters agriculture or hinders the produc- 

 tion of bounteous crops, should, if within the 

 region of possibilit}", be removed, in order 

 that we may secure the maximum yield from 

 the soil and so aid in supporting to the 

 greatest possible extent the nation cjn home- 

 grown food. Each year that we neglect this 

 problem we are permitting matters to grow 

 worse, and are placing a severe handicap 

 upon our greatest national industry. 



Before anv action is possible it is essential 

 that we should have indisputable evidence of 

 the precise economic status that a bird 

 occupies. Having obtained such, it is fiu'ther 

 necessary to know whether that particular 

 species is increasing in numbers, stationary, 

 or becoming less nimierous, and whether 

 such conditions are local or general. With 

 such information it is possible to protect a 

 species by forbidding the taking of the eggs 

 and birds. Practically the whole of our 

 insectivorous species of wild birds should be 

 so protected. It should, further, be deemed 

 an offence for any dealer to have in his 

 possession either the eggs or birds of these 

 species, and similarly for anyone to expose, 

 advertise, or offer them for sale. 



Where a species is found to be destructive 

 no protection, for the time being, should be 

 afforded it. 



Provision should be made in any future 

 legislation to revise or reconsider any Order 

 at stated periods, say every three years, either 

 for the whole of the United Kingdom or for 

 different parts of the country, according xo 

 the varying conditions. 



It is onlv by some such method as outlined 

 above that we can hope to relieve the food 

 producers of the nation of a serious loss, and 

 at the same time lend every encouragement to 

 those species of birds which are known to be 

 valuable aids as destroyers of insect pests. 



