49 



advocated as long ago as 1873 by Dr. Alfred Brehm at the 

 International Agricultural Congress at Vienna. Teaching on 

 the subject has, as we know, since become compulsory by law 

 in some European countries, as in Switzerland ; while in America, 

 laws have been enacted for the observance of "Bird and Arbor" 

 days in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut, Delaware and Ohio. 

 A similar institution was introduced in Hungary in 1906 by 

 decree of the IVIinister of Public Instruction ; and in Great Britain 

 the importance of this question of education is by slow degrees 

 becoming generally appreciated, and we hear more and more of 

 the advantages of " Nature-study."* 



But training the cliildren in this way will not do all that is 

 wanted. It is certainly hopeless to expect to arrive at anything 

 like a satisfactory conclusion as to which birds to protect or how 

 to protect them until the main points of the situation — and 

 especially the food of birds — have been widely and methodically 

 investigated. Up to the present time there has been practically 

 no such systematic study in this country. Good work has 

 certainly been accomplished on a very small scale by a few 

 energetic individuals — Mr. John Gilmour's paper in the Journal 

 of the Higliland Agriculture Society for 1906 may be cited as an 

 instance — but the subject is far too vast to be tackled except 

 by a considerable number of men working methodically and in 

 concert. Such investigations are not likely to be carried out 

 until the Board of Agriculture has a department which devotes 

 its attention entirely to the subject. f Until such work has for 

 some years been done in tliis country as is being carried on in the 

 United States and Hungary, we shall not possess the materials 

 for satisfactory legislation. Nevertheless, our laws have on the 

 whole proved fairly effective. The increase in many species 

 can undoubtedly be traced to them, and if they were relaxed 

 many birds would at once have a very hard time. Only this 

 year Larus ridibuiidus was removed from the list of species 

 whose eggs Avere protected in Cumberland. What was the con- 

 sequence ? It is said that the immediate result was a raid on 

 its breeding stations, the eggs being gathered for local con- 

 sumption or despatched to London as Plovers' eggs, the poor 

 birds being driven to fresh nesting grounds. J But although 

 our Statutes have produced some good results, there are far too 

 many of them and they are too cumbersome. We cannot but 

 envy the concise enactments by which the subject is regulated 

 in such countries as Switzerland and Belgium. 



* See page 50. 



f The importance of the study of this subject was \irged at the recent 



meeting of the British Association at Dublin by Mr. C. Gordon 



Hewitt. 

 X See T. Harrison in " Field," 1st August, 1908 (p. 238). 



E 



