AUGUST 171 



onwards for the protection of wild birds other than 

 game have had a confusing effect upon the general 

 public, although the exact state of the law may be 

 ascertained by a reference to Whitaker's Almanac. 

 Nevertheless, a consolidating Act, setting matters in a 

 clearer light, is much to be desired. By the original 

 Act, eighty-six out of nearly four hundred species of 

 British birds were scheduled, and an annual close time 

 was provided for them, extending from March 2nd to July 

 31st inclusive ; but a subsequent Act empowered County 

 Councils to apply to the Secretary of State in England 

 and Wales, the Secretary for Scotland in Scotland, or 

 the Lord-Lieutenant in Ireland, to vary or abolish the 

 close time for any of the scheduled birds, or to provide 

 a close time for any bird or birds not included in the 

 schedule, and to prohibit the taking of eggs of any wild 

 bird in any county or part thereof. The sheldrake 

 was scheduled in the original Act, wherefore a penalty 

 is incurred by anybody taking or killing one during the 

 five months of close time; but it is quite within the 

 powers of the County Council of Kirkcudbright, where 

 the estuary of the Urr is situated, to apply to the 

 Secretary for Scotland for an order prohibiting the 

 destruction of these fine birds at any or all times of the 

 year. 



Certainly if a blameless life be deemed to constitute 

 a valid claim for protection, no wild, bird merits 

 immunity more strongly than the sheldrake. It injures 

 no human interest, for its diet consists exclusively of 

 molluscs, small crustaceans, sea- worms, and seaweed; 

 and its brilliant plumage, large size, and bold flight 



