Bird Protection in Italy as It Impresses the Italian 195 



It is not suprising to hear it said that " the multiplication of so many different 

 rules brings confusion and contradiction between regions but a short distance 

 apart or contiguous, whence the negligence or the ignorance of the authorities to 

 whom the execution of the law belongs; whence everything is in disorder in the 

 development of rural economy everywhere so important, and especially in Italy." 



What these varied and antiquated laws are in every case is not stated, but it is 

 evident from the present practice, as already suggested, that they were framed 

 mainly in the interests of the hunters, and not of the birds nor of agriculture. 



What are the legal enactments demanded by those Italians who desire to 

 really protect their birds ? Lico quotes the statement of Sig. G. Spanna, made at 

 the Congress of the Zoological Society, held at Turin, in October, 1898, and 

 which may be summarized as follows: (i) To prohibit absolutely the hunting of 

 birds by any means except firearms; (2) To prohibit the destruction of the nests 

 of birds, taking or destroying the eggs, the young, the mothers; disturbing in any 

 way the nidification, also with the design or pretext of training dogs for hunting, 

 and this in whatever position the nest is found; (3) To prohibit the hunting with 

 firearms from March i to August 15, in all Italy; (4) To make it penal to pos- 

 sess and to sell in public or in secret, during the time when hunting is forbidden, 

 any birds, whether living or dead; in the hunting season it is legal to receive only 

 those birds which have been killed by firearms, and on the bodies of each of 

 which appears a wound from a leaden bullet, sustained by the living animal; (5) 

 To prohibit at all times the sale of birds alive, in cages, or otherwise confined, 

 excepting only forejgn species, or those which are not migratory or resident in 

 Italy; (6) To increase the tax upon hunting with firearms to such a sum as may 

 correspond to the loss sustained by the public treasury through the suppression of 

 the concessions for hunting with nets, snares, and every other forbidden means; 

 (7) To declare as lawbreakers all who hunt in property not belonging to them, 

 and in the neighborhood of lakes, ponds, or streams, and water-courses belonging 

 to the provinces, to the municipality, or to private persons, without having 

 previously obtained permission in writing from the proprietor, which is to be 

 shown to the police officers whether public or private; (8) To the person author- 

 ized to proceed against the lawbreakers, and to the accusers, a share of the fine is 

 to be given, as well as of the sums paid per head of the game seized; (9) In so 

 far as regards the secondary rules, account is to be taken of the royal patents of 

 what was formerly the kingdom of Sardinia. 



The sponsor for these laws thus expresses his opinion regarding them : " Hunt- 

 ing, now-a-days, I am glad to say, is no longer a means of procuring food.* For 

 a few is it a means of diversion and of ostentation in banquets. In either case, 



and decrees of July 7, 1804, September 21, 1805, March 21, 181 1, and the proclamation of 

 July 5, 161 5 ; in the provinces once forming the Sardinian States, and in those of Lombardy 

 and the Marches the royal patents of December 29, 1836, July 16, 1844, and July i, 1845. 



It thus appears that the antiquated laws upon the shooting of birds in Italy date all the 

 way from 1615 to 1856. 



*This is hardly the case in Italy where shooting birds is often a means of eking out a living. 



