Birds as Crop Protectors 



tion of "SPARROW CLUBS " throughout the 

 country was recommended, and raids against 

 the BULLFINCH, HAWFINCH, JAY, BLACK- 

 BIRD, THRUSH, and STARLING were widely 

 advocated. As a set-off to the Wild Birds 

 Protection Act it was suggested that there 

 should be a " Tame Humans Preservation 

 Act " (Daily Mail, 10.1.17). To. this outcry 

 against all birds Sir Herbert Maxwell pub- 

 lished a well-reasoned answer, drawing at- 

 tention to the number of destructive insects 

 consumed by birds, and pointing out that 

 the indiscriminate destruction of small birds 

 would result in as much harm as good (Times, 

 31.1.17). The SEA-GULL was accused not 

 only of taking trout but also of taking valu- 

 able manure in collaboration with the ROOK 

 (Glasgow Herald, I5.iii.i7); and it was an- 

 nounced in May 1917 that soldiers training 

 in England were to go on official birds-nest- 

 ing expeditions, and that " as the season is 

 well advanced troops are to go birds-nesting 

 at once " (Daily Mail, 26.V.I7). The Board 

 of Agriculture, besides acquiescing in this 

 persecution of birds, advised War Agricul- 

 D 33 



