THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Bird Protection in Europe 



'The following letter from Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson telling of the results of his study 

 of the status of bird protection in Europe gives a very clear understand- 

 ing of the necessity for a world wide campaign for 

 bird protection 



Dear Mr. Schantz: 



MANY of the principles for bird study and bird protection 

 which in this country we regard as rudimentary ones, have 

 no place in European countries. For example, here no one 

 may collect birds' eggs without securing state and federal permits for 

 that purpose. In Great Britain there is practically no such restriction 

 and the egg collecting craze like a scourge is sweeping the British Isles. 

 Literally hundreds of men and boys in the employ of wealthy egg- 

 collectors are searching fields and woods in spring for birds' eggs. 



In western Europe the eggs of the Lapwing, Stone Curlew and 

 Oystercatcher are collected in vast numbers and sold in the markets 

 as food. Throughout southern Europe songbirds are widely eaten. The 

 little Skylark, for example, which was immortalized by Shelley, and 

 which has had a place in literature almost ever since there has been 

 iterature, is netted, trapped, caught by bird limes and shot in enormous 

 numbers. More than 200,000 are known to have been shipped from 

 Belgium to France for food in the winter of 1913-14. Nearly every 

 land-owner in Belgium, I am informed, has an ingenious device with 

 little mirrors which is whirled in the field and used in attracting Sky- 

 larks within range of the spoilers. In the fall and winter one may see 

 long strings of these birds hanging in front of the markets in southern 

 Europe. 



We prohibit spring-shooting of wild fowl in the United States, but 

 there is very little prohibition of this kind in Europe. The President 

 of a bird protective society in Switzerland seemed surprised when I 

 made this suggestion, and replied by asking a question. He said, 

 "Why should we protect migratory birds in Switzerland for the benefit 

 of people who kill them to the north and south of us?" 



There is certainly need here for international bird protection con- 

 ventions to be held. There are practically no convictions for violation 

 of the bird and game laws in Hungary or Italy. In 1921 there were only 

 sixty convictions in all of France for the illegal killing of birds. In New 

 York State alone there were over 1,000 during the same period. 



On the other hand, in England and Scotland there is a widespread 

 personal interest in birds. The small birds there are very abundant. 

 It seems to be part of the creed of every cultivated Englishman to have 

 a personal knowledge of the names and appearances of flowers and 



