1920.] 



Protection of the Lapwing. 



315 



they should be stood on their edge and packed as closely 

 as possible, as otherwise there is some risk of mould. 

 Crevices between bales on the outside of the stack should, it 

 is suggested, be filled up to prevent the entrance of air and 

 light. If the hay is properly and tightly baled, however, the 

 risk of mould is considerably reduced. 



By this system both labour and storage space are saved, and 

 waste in handling is reduced. The hay is immediately available 

 for transport or for use, and can be easily trucked and 

 re-stacked. 



He * * * * * 



In view of the value of the lapwing (green plover, or peewit) 

 to agriculture, the Ministry i's desirous that the protection 



afforded to this bird throughout England 

 La* wln°^ and Wales should be extended. The 



lapwing does no damage to crops, and is 

 exceedingly useful to the farmer. It devours snails, slugs, 

 wireworms, beetles, and the larvae of insects such as crane- 

 fly, turnip moth, and yellow under- wing, which prey upon the 

 roots of grass, turnips, and cereals, and it is also of benefit to 

 sheep-owners, in that it feeds on the water-snail that harbours 

 the immature form of liver-fluke, the cause of the liver rot in 

 sheep. 



Quite apart from the limitation of numbers by direct destruc- 

 ton of birds, the natural increase of the lapwing is hindered by 

 reason of the fact that the eggs are much sought after as a table 

 delicacy. 



The present position is that the killing or taking of the lap- 

 wing is absolutely prohibited by Statute as between the ist 

 March and the ist August, and on the application of the Councils 

 of the counties and county boroughs concerned, the Home 

 Secretary has made Orders in respect of 39 counties and 36 

 county boroughs according additional protection to the eggs 

 or the bird or to both. 



The Departmental Committee on the Protection of Wild 

 Birds in its report* issued last year recommended that the pro- 

 tection of the lapwing should be standardised and put beyond 

 doubt by the Statute. The clause suggested in the report 

 for this to be carried into effect by legislative action was : — 



" Lapwing (Plover). — Eggs and nests to be absolutely protected, 

 except that owners, or persons authorised by them in writing, 

 should be allowed to take the eggs on their own land up to the 

 15th of April." 



* See this Journal, November, 191 9, p. 832. 



