l82 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



Game birds in England within the Game Act 1831 (i.e. 

 pheasants, partridges, grouse, heath or moor-game, black 

 game and bustards) have a special close time provided by that 

 Act and cannot fall within the purview of the Wild Birds 

 Protection Acts. As regards the eggs of game birds the 

 powers of County Councils seem more extensive, and the 

 Wild Bird Protection Acts do to some degree trench on those 

 rights of landowners and sportsmen which are recognised by 

 the Game Act of 1831. The Game Act of 1831 protects to 

 some extent the eggs of certain birds, namely, of all birds of 

 game, of swans, wild duck, teal and wigeon ; section 24 of 

 that Act makes it an offence for " any person not having the 

 right of killing game upon any land, nor having permission 

 from the person having such right wilfully to take out of the 

 nest or destroy in the nest upon such land " the eggs of the 

 birds named above ; this section recognises that the person 

 who has the right of killing game on land has a qualified right 

 of property in the eggs of the birds. 



Shropshire has not altered the statutory close time, the 

 only order that has been obtained up to the present is one 

 dated August 4th, 1897. It adds the following birds to the 

 schedule, viz : treecreeper, spotted flycatcher, pied flycatcher, 

 white wagtail, grey wagtail, yellow wagtail, nuthatch, swallow, 

 martin, sand-martin and swift ; and prohibits the taking or 

 destroying of the eggs of the following species of wild birds 

 throughout the County, viz : crossbill, all owls, nightjar, 

 curlew, kingfisher, goldfinch, nuthatch, all woodpeckers, great 

 crested grebe, nightingale, shrike, white wagtail, grey wagtail, 

 yellow wagtail, spotted flycatcher, pied flycatcher, wild duck, 

 teal and wigeon. 



Of the birds which are added to the Schedule in Shrop- 

 shire the tree-creeper is by no means uncommon in the County 



