THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS 249 



risks to run.* I am eagerly looking forward to the 

 time when the Wild Birds' Protection Act will be 

 revised; at present it is almost useless, yet if left 

 in the hands of a few competent ornithologists it 

 could be made workable, and there would then be 

 some hope for our rarer British birds. 



* Since writing the above I am glad to find that the Royal Assent 

 has been given to a short Act of Parliament which provides that, 

 " Where any person is convicted of an offence against the Wild Birds' 

 Protection Acts, 1880 to 1896, the Court may, in addition to any 

 penalty that may therein be imposed, order any wild bird, or wild 

 bird's egg, in respect of which the offence has been committed, to be 

 forfeited and disposed of as the Court shall think fit." 



