272 The Protection of Wild Birds. 



urgently needed. Yet, though we are entirely in 

 sympathy with him in his endeavour to preserve 

 our rarer and more harmless birds, we cannot help 

 entertaining serious doubts whether the proposals 

 embodied in his Bill would, if they had become 

 law, have had the desired effect; for, like Lord 

 Lilf ord, we " rather dread any legislative action in 

 the matter of the protection of birds' eggs/' and 

 we were therefore pleased to see his announcement 

 in the Times of Tuesday last that, owing to objec- 

 tions which have been raised to the form of his 

 Bill, especially in regard to the protection of eggs, 

 he had put it down for a later period of the session, 

 and in the meantime intends to remodel it. 



The law as it stands, though no doubt capable 

 of great improvement, is a powerful weapon if 

 properly used, and the fact that it is not sufficiently 

 enforced can hardly be considered a good argu- 

 ment for its alteration. If, however, it is to be 

 amended, we should prefer that the amendment 

 should be in the direction of more stringent 

 provisions for the protection of the parent birds, 

 and that many birds which are now omitted from 

 the schedule of specially protected species should 

 be included in the new Act rather than, as Mr. 

 Pease originally proposed, that protection should 

 be given to all wild birds' eggs with the exception 

 of those of some sixty or seventy species. For it 

 is demonstrable that in the case of most birds, 

 if the parents are protected, the species is in little 

 danger of extinction. No doubt, however, many 



