46 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



The ' South Australian Registrar ' complains of the wanton destruction 

 of birds there, stating that it is an unforeseen effect of the legislation 

 intended to ensure the destruction of Sparrows and other feathered pests ; 

 but it goes on to say that to the ruthless and indiscriminate extermination 

 of birds which is now proceeding in almost every district some material 

 check might be applied if Parliament would only spare an hour or two of 

 its valuable time for the consideration of the Bill promoted by the Society 

 for the Protection of Birds. When that Society was inaugurated four 

 years ago many people described the movement as an evanescent fad which 

 woujd have no result, but the local branch has now 525 members, and the 

 parent society in the old country numbers 18,200. South Australia is 

 apparently now concerned about the fate of the native birds, and it has 

 good reason to be, not only from a sentimental, but also from a utilitarian 

 point of view. In many ways different species of Australian birds may 

 prove themselves to be the friends of mankind. Kendall, the most essenti- 

 ally Australian of all our poets, mentions not the best of these when 

 he says — 



" Welcome as waters unkissed by the summers 

 Are the voices of Bell-birds to thirsty far-comers." 



But if only on the ground of pure sentiment, the agitation undertaken 

 by the Society is fully justified. The days are surely gone by when in any 

 civilized country a large proportion of the people, even in the needful work 

 of extirpating pests, would wantonly prefer the cruel methods of slow 

 torture to those of swift and painless destruction. No doubt one may find 

 here and there wretches who would sit smoking a pipe and watching the 

 struggles of a wounded bird without the slightest impulse to put it out of 

 its misery. Some boys will actually pull the wings and the legs away from 

 a living bird, and impale the suffering little thing against the trunk of a 

 tree, in order to enjoy the spectacle of its agony. The practice of offering 

 bonuses for the heads of Sparrows undoubtedly tended to harden the con- 

 sciences of many young people, and the amount of wanton cruelty observed 

 in the park-lands around Adelaide is quite disquieting. Unfortunately, the 

 existing demand for wings for the trimming of ladies' hats leads to an 

 immense amount of cruelty, and the boys therefore are not the sole persons 

 responsible for the evil. In the case of those species of birds that are 

 already in danger of extermination, the caprices of fashion are peculiarly 

 unpatriotic and unwise, as well as cruel, for they perpetrate their worst 

 ravages at the breeding season, when the plumage is at its brightest. — Globe. 



Some interesting facts are to be found in ' Angling Notes ' contributed 

 to the ' Westminster Gazette' of Dec. 30th. In connection with the 

 details of a plan to increase the stock of Salmon in the Tweed and Teviot, 



