HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



37 



analogous to the Hungarian Central Office of 

 Ornithology and the Ornithological Bureau already 

 existing in the United States of America. The 

 Committee should be selected with a view to ob- 

 taining the necessary advice on questions con- 

 nected with bird protection. It is suggested that 

 protection should be given to all birds during the 

 breeding season, which might properly be from 

 March 1 to September 1 inclusive, subject to the 

 right of an owner or occupier of land or person 

 authorised by him in writing to take on such land 

 any bird injurious to his interests. There are, 

 however, two schedules of birds not subject to such 

 a right, the first consisting of birds which receive 

 absolute protection during the breeding season, 

 and the second of birds receiving absolute protec- 

 tion all the year round. 



The first list includes : 



Arctic or Richardsosn's skua, black- 

 throated diver, black-tailed godwit, caper- 

 caillie, dotterel, duck (all species), eared 

 grebe, fork-tailed petrel, goldfinch, great- 

 crested grebe, great skua, greenshank, grey 

 lay-goose, hobby, kestrel, kingfisher, marsh 

 warbler, merlin, night jar, nightingale,, pere- 

 grine falcon, pied flycatcher, quail, raven, 

 red-necked pralarope, red-throated diver, 

 ringed plover, ruff and reeve, siskin, Scla- 

 vonian-grebe, snipe, stone-curlew, swan, 

 terns (all species), water-rail, whimbrel, wood- 

 lark, woodpeckers (all species), and wryneck. 



The second schedule, birds absolutely pro- 

 tected all the year round, includes the following : 

 Avocet, Baillcn's crake, bearded reedling or 

 bearded titfouse, bittern, bustard, buzzard, 

 chough, crested titmouse, Dartford warbler, 

 golden eagle, golden oriole, harriers (all 

 species), honey buzzard, hoopoo, Kentish 

 plover, kite, long-eared owl, osprey, pallas 

 and grouse, sea eagle, shcrt-eared owl, spoon- 

 bill, St. Kilda wren, tawny owl, and the white 

 or barn owl. 



It is suggested that power should be given to 

 the central authority, on the application of the 

 local authority, to extend or vary the close time or 

 to add to or subtract from these schedules either 

 for a local area or for the whole country, and to 

 exempt certain destructive birds from all pro- 

 tection. There should be a special close time for 

 woodcock, and the Committee recommend that 

 the time should be from February 1 to October 1 

 each year. The Committee are of opinion that 

 the protection of eggs should follow the same 

 lines as the protection of the birds themselves, 

 and recommend that the eggs of the birds in the 

 schedules given should be protected by statute. 

 The cases of the lapwing and woodcock require 

 special consideration, and it is suggested that in 

 the case of the lapwing eggs and nests be abso- 



lutely protected, except that owners or persons 

 authorised by them in writing, should' be allowed 

 to take the eggs on their own land up to April 

 15, and that in the case of the woodcock, eggs 

 and nests should be absolutely protected from 

 February 1 to August 1. Pointing out that the 

 existing law makes no mention of nests, the Com- 

 mittee recommend that it should be an offence 

 to- take, disturb, or destroy the nest of any bird 

 whose eggs are protected. After recommending 

 the arranging of counties into ornithological 

 groups, the opinion is expressed that in cases 

 where, through the inertia of the local authority, 

 no order or a totally inadequate order is applied 

 for, there should be a power in the central authori- 

 ty on its own initiative to< issue a suitable order 

 or to modify an existing order. 



BIRD SANCTUARIES. 



The power to create sanctuaries for birds and 

 eggs is strongly recommended by the Committee, 

 who suggest that these should be made use of as 

 far as possible by the central and local authori- 

 ties. Such areas should be maintained automati- 

 cally as reserves for bird life. The Committee 

 recommend that there should be complete protec- 

 tion of all birds and eggs within all Royal forests, 

 subject to a provision allowing the killing or tak- 

 ing of particular birds or the taking of their eggs 

 by authorised persons, such as keepers and 

 others, for approved purposes. They further 

 suggest the sympathetic consideration of the 

 payment of a small subsidy from the State to 

 assist in the provision of watchers for public 

 sanctuaries, and recommend that all killing or 

 taking of birds in any public place, highway, by- 

 way, common or waste land, should be prohibited 

 throughout the year. 



There had been considerable discussion be- 

 fore the Committee on the question of Sunday pro- 

 tection for all birds throughout the country, and 

 the Committee, being of opinion that complete im- 

 munity for bird life on one day in seven is likely 

 to assist in maintaining the bird population, re- 

 commend that there should be general protection 

 of all birds, eggs, and nests throughout the coun- 

 try on Sundays. As under the existing law there 

 is no power to grant permission to take scheduled 

 birds during the protected period, or any eggs 

 which are protected, without removing both from 

 protection for a whole country, the Committee 

 consider that a provision should be made for the 

 granting of licenses for the purposes of useful in- 

 vestigation. Licenses should only be granted to 

 suitable persons above the age of 18 by the cen- 

 tral authority on the advice of the Ornithological 

 Advisory Committee. 



Amongst the offences under the proposed new 

 bill which the Committee suggest should be drafted 



