632 DISCUSSION. 



advance matters, among others by arranging for a deputation to- 

 wait upon the Colonial Secretary. Personally he advocated the 

 repeal of the Birds' Protection Act of 1901, because it was 

 cumbersome and misleading, in favour of a simple Act which 

 should provide for the protection of all birds and their eggs, with 

 the exception of those birds regarded as pests, to be specified in a 

 separate schedule. 



Mr. J. H. Maiden, representing the Royal Society of New 

 South Wales, communicated a letter which had been received 

 from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, in London, 

 upon the subject of the treatment which is now being meted out 

 to Birds of Paradise in New Guinea since the recission of the 

 Proclamation made in 1904 for the protection of these birds; and 

 asking for the support of the Society in obtaining a renewal of 

 the Proclamation. The Royal Society of New South Wales had 

 accordingly approached the Commonwealth Government through 

 the kind offices of the Premier of New South Wales. Copies of 

 the correspondence were communicated to the Meeting. The 

 speaker then addressed himself more particularly to the difficult 

 question of the best means of securing the protection of native 

 plants. As the representative of the Zoological Society of New 

 South Wales also, Mr. Maiden communicated a message from the 

 Hon. Secretary to the effect that the Society was arranging for a 

 deputation to the Premier. 



Mr. R. Etheridge, junr., Curator of the Australian Museum, 

 spoke in favour of the retention of most of the clauses of the 

 Act of 1901, provided the Act was properly put into operation. 

 For example, the present Act provided that mere possession of a 

 scheduled bird was sufficient to constitute liability; this was a 

 wise provision and should be retained. The existing schedules, 

 however, were defective and confusing. The suggestion that 

 the birds that might be shot should be specified, and all others 

 protected, was an excellent one. The urgent need for reform in 

 the administration of the Act was evidenced by the enormous 

 amount of trapping of native birds, including scheduled birds 

 such as the lyre-bird, for commercial purposes, and by the openly 

 conducted sale of scheduled birds, such as seagulls, in Sydney. 



