Part II. 



MEDIAEVAL BIRD LAWS. 



A FTER having attempted to describe in the 

 preceding part of this httle book the state of 

 the existing laws as to our wild birds, it may be 

 interesting, as suggested by my friend, Mr. W. 

 Denison Roebuck, to compare, especially in this the 

 sixtieth year of Queen Victoria's reign, the laws on 

 this subject passed during the reigns of our two 

 most illustrious Queens. Various comparisons — 

 whether by way of similarity or of contrast — are 

 to be drawn between those most noteworthy epochs 

 in English history when our ruler has been a 

 Queen — and particularly when we take into account 

 the Elizabethan age and compare it with the 

 Victorian age under which we now live, and which 

 we all hope will be prolonged for many years to 

 come. 



In both epochs we have had legislation dealing 

 with our native wild animals or birds, but from this 

 point of view it is a contrast which has to be drawn. 



