Protection Acts in Cfreat Britain and Ireland. 603 



Under the latter of these provisions House Sparrows in 

 several counties, and in one or two maritime counties, Shags 

 and Cormorants, and in two Irish counties the Merganser 

 also have been deprived of protection. 



(b) To prohibit the killing or taking of particular birds 

 during the whole or any part of the year. 



(c) To forbid the taking of the eggs of particular birds 

 anywhere within the county to which the Order applies. 



(d) Lastly— following an excellent Colonial precedent — to 

 establish "sanctuaries," within which birds and eggs, both 

 alike or either, shall be sacred, 



Under this provision sanctuaries, within which no bird may 

 be killed at any time of the year, have been established in 

 five English counties : Berks, Lancashire, Cheshire, Somerset, 

 and the East Riding of Yorkshire, and in two boroughs, 

 Liverpool and Warrington. 



Sanctuaries, within tvhich no egg may be taken, have been 

 set up in eleven English counties and three English boroughs. 



It is a serious flaw in the law that there is no power 

 reserved, as in Holland and other foreign countries, to grant 

 permission to take protected birds or eggs for scientific 

 purposes, though the suggestion that this should be done 

 was more than once made in Parliament. 



The penalties for offences against the Wild Birds Pro- 

 tection Acts are as follows : — 



For killing protected birds. — If in the scheduled list, for 

 each offence a fine not exceeding £1 ; if not in the Schedule, 

 for a first offence payment of costs only. For later offences 

 a fine not exceeding 5s. for each offence, with costs. 



For taking protected eggs.- — For each offence a fine not 

 exceeding £1. 



In addition to these penalties, the convicting Court can 

 order the forfeiture of the birds or eggs taken, and of the 

 implements used in taking them. 



No Sandgrouse can be killed at any time of the year in 

 any part of the United Kingdom, nor may any pole-trap be used. 



The penalties are : For killing a Sandgrouse, a fine not 

 exceeding £1 for each offence ; for using a pole-trap, for a 

 first offence a fine not exceeding 40s. For later offences a 

 fine not exceeding £5. 



