BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



publicly for the address of any factory where arti- 

 ficial " osprey " plumes are made, but this has never 

 .been given. 



The pseudo-artificial ospreys are to be bought at 

 any price, from a few pence to over a pound, the 

 cheap " brush" sorts being merely coarser kinds or 

 lower portions of the spray. The low price has 

 supported a supposition that the article must be 

 imitation ; but since the material is obtained by 

 shooting down wild birds in nesting-grounds where 

 300 may be killed in an afternoon by two or three 

 men, and extravagant sums are asked for the finer 

 qualities, it may well be that there is more profit on 

 goods so gotten than if the wages of skilled workers 

 and the cost of elaborate machinery had to meet 

 the production of " manufactured " feathers. 



Many inventions may yet be to the fore to bolster 

 up the trade in egret plumes ; but it cannot go on 

 indefinitely. " These beautiful birds," an eminent 

 ornithologist writes to the Society, " have been 

 wiped out in nearly every one of their old haunts, 

 and ' ospreys ' will go out of fashion, as there will 

 soon be no birds left to kill." 



Some day it will surely appear incredible that 

 such a network of cruelty, folly, and duplicity 

 should have been woven round a scrap of useless 

 ornament. 



BIRD PROTECTION IN IRELAND. 



In the House of Lords on May 7th the Earl of 

 Mayo asked, with regard to Close Season for 

 Wild Birds in Ireland, why notices had not been 

 posted up for the last three years on all the Royal 

 Irish Constabulary barracks in Ireland. The 

 posting of these notices would aid the preserva- 

 tion of wild birds, because people in the remoter 

 parts of the country would then know what the 

 law was. 



Lord Balfour, in reply, said that in May, 1899, 

 the police throughout Ireland were instructed to 

 enforce the Acts, and were at the same time 

 instructed to warn persons against committing 

 offences against the law. Notices with regard to 

 the Act were then posted up, but it had not since 

 been considered necessary to renew them. Prose- 

 cutions had been undertaken by the police. In 

 1899 there were six prosecutions and two convic- 

 tions ; in 1900 six prosecutions and one conviction ; 

 in 1901 three prosecutions and three convictions; 

 in 1902 four prosecutions and four convictions. He 

 was informed that the police were thoroughly alive 

 to their duties under the Act. If the noble lord 

 had any information which would show that the 

 Acts were not strictly enforced, and would submit 

 it to the Irish Office, an enquiry would be made, 

 because it was the desire of the Irish Office to 

 see these valuable Acts enforced as thoroughly 

 as possible. 



NOTES. 

 H.M. Coastguard. 



Valuable help in the "watching" and protection of 

 birds on the coast of the United Kingdom may be con- 

 fidently anticipated from H.M. Coastguard, the Lords 

 of the Admiralty having approved a request from the 

 Society that this important body should co-operate in 

 carrying out the provisions of the Wild Birds' Protection 

 Acts. The Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves 

 has sent an official notice on the subject to the District 

 Captains and Divisional Officers ; and at the Admiralty's 

 request the Society has supplied papers of instructions, 

 including Summaries of the Acts, showing the County 

 Council Orders in force in the various counties, and also 

 the Acts and Orders, edited by Mr. F. E. Lemon. The 

 Society has been in communication with the 81 Divisional 

 Officers, and upon their application have furnished to 

 every one of the 728 Coast Guard Stations situated round 

 Great Britain and Ireland sets of papers containing 

 detailed information concerning the Orders in force in the 

 various districts. 



Egg Lifting in Scotland. 



This spring information reached the Society that 

 attempts were again tc be made in the North of Scotland 

 to take the eggs of ceitain rare birds, notwithstanding 

 the Orders of prohibition. These plans have, it is hoped, 

 in some cases been frustrated by the appointment of 

 Watchers and the co-operation of landowners and their 

 factors ; among others, the Duke of Sutherland has 

 interested himself in the matter. 



Sparrow Clubs. 



The Board of Agriculture has issued a leaflet on the 

 House Sparrow, in which it recommends the formation 

 of Sparrow Clubs throughout the country. Piecemeal 

 efforts are regarded as ineffectual; "it is of little value 

 to kill the sparrows in one locality if they are allowed to 

 multiply in surrounding parishes." The circular states 

 that, " In all cases great care must be exercised to prevent 

 other birds suffering along with the sparrows"; and 

 again, " Anything like indiscriminate destruction of small 

 birds in general should be strenuously avoided, the object 

 being merely to reduce the numbers of the house-sparrow. 

 Every encouragement should- be given to the protection 

 of all other small birds, unless there are obvious reasons 

 for including other species in the black list." Unfortu- 

 nately the Board omits to state how the average peasant 

 and village boy are to be taught to know or care what 

 small birds they destroy, especially when encouraged by 

 the hope of club prizes. No systematic instruction in 

 practical ornithology has yet been introduced into country 

 schools through which the characteristics and habits of 

 birds and the great utility of many species may be 

 learnt ; and anyone acquainted with country life knows 

 how little knowledge there is among the people on this 



