600 Letters^ Extracts, and Notes. [Ibis, 



Wild Bird Protection. 



The following letter appeared ia the ' Times ' of 

 April 10 last : — 



Sir, — In consequence of the exhibition of some clutches 

 of wild birds^ eggs at the last Oological dinner, Lord Buxton, 

 at the annual meeting of the Royal Society for the Protection 

 of Birds, drew public attention to the action of certain 

 oologists as constituting a distinct menace to the effective 

 protection of wild birds and to the due enforcement of the 

 laws passed for their protection. Lord Buxton forwarded a 

 copy of his speech to the British Ornithologists' Union for 

 their observations. 



In the first place, the committee of the B.O.U. wonld 

 point out that the Oological dinners are not held under the 

 auspices of the British Ornithologists' Union, nor are those 

 who attend or exhibit necessarily members either of the 

 B.O. Union or the B.O. Club. In view, however, of the public 

 interest in the question of the protection of wild birds and 

 of their eggs, the committee of the B.O.U. desire publicly 

 to state (as they have already assured Lord Buxton) : — 



(1) That they are desirous of encouraging the protection 

 of rare birds in England in every way possible ; 



(2) That it is their ambition to limit the collecting of 

 eggs to the taking of such as are required in the interests 

 of science, and they specially protest against the taking of 

 eggs of any birds in any locality where they are rare, or the 

 taking of eggs in unnecessary numbers; 



(3) That it is their emphatic desire to support, both in 

 letter and in spirit, the Acts which provide for the protection 

 of birds and their eggs, and they deprecate very strongly 

 the action of any member who disobeys these laws, or who 

 incites any other to break or evade them. 



We are. Sir, yours faithfully, 

 H. J. Elwes, 



President, B.O.U. 

 E. C. Stuart Baker, 

 British Ornithologists' Union, Hon. Secretary, B.O.U. 



6 Harold Place, Upper Norwood, 

 S.E. 19. 



