SECTION I. 

 GENERAL REMARKS ON BIRD - PROTECTION. 



I. THE PRESENT POSITION OF AFFAIRS REGARDING THE PROTECTION 



OF BIRDS. 



MOST people have been struck by the increased attention that has 

 recently been paid to the protection of birds, and they must have 

 hailed this movement with delight. In newspapers, journals, books, 

 and pamphlets we come across articles and essays dealing with the 

 various attempts to promote this object ; while societies and com- 

 munities, as well as individuals, exert themselves on all sides in the 

 good cause. 



The energetic fashion in which Government authorities have taken 

 up the question of the protection of birds on a rational [basis deserves 

 special mention. We need only refer here to the Paris Convention 

 of June, 1895, which was signed by most of the European States, to 

 the " Guide for carrying out the Protection of our Native Birds," 

 issued by the Prussian Board of Agriculture, Crown Lands, and 

 Forests, and to the far-reaching and [practical] measures which have 

 been introduced into the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Grand Duchies 

 of Hesse and Baden, the State of Hamburg, and other German 

 States.* 



The same activity is to be found in England, France, Austria- 



* Hamburg has had a " Keeper of Birds," appointed by the State, since April 

 1st, 1906 Otto Theil, who was trained for three years by Baron von Berlepsch 

 and his old bird-keeper, Jakob Mey, at Cassel, and at the experimental station 

 at Seebach. He is not appointed merely for State service, but is at the disposal 

 of private individuals who request his help 



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