48 
HISTORICAL PART 
difficult as the fowlers had hardly knowledge enough to 
discriminate between birds. ^ The solution of the question of 
usefulness in a general sense was difficult. There were birds 
which, while at home insect-eaters, on reaching Italy destroyed 
fruit and olives. Such birds were useful at home, but in Italy 
distinctly noxious. 
He did not believe in the decrease of the number of birds, 
at any rate at the hand of man. Of the many billions of 
birds only an insignificant proportion fell victims. 
He proposed the following points: 
1. The taking of useful birds should be prohibited the 
whole year round. The taking of seed-eaters should be 
allowed from Sept. 1 till Dec. 1. 
2. The authorities, teachers and clergy should take care 
that no-one destroyed birds' nests and that the natural his- 
torical knowledge of birds was spread. 
ToRELLi, of Rome, declared that in Italy the open season 
needed to be regulated uniformly. 
Setteqast, of Proskau, pointed out the difficulties in the 
way of carrying out the decisions. No-one had wished to 
put the decisions of the German Agricultural and Forestr}^ 
Congress into force. 
His proposal was, that the Austrian Government be requested 
to conduct negotiations that would render feasible the creation 
of an international convention for the protection of birds 
useful to agriculture. 
Kargl, of Linz, declared that every effort which did not 
secure the support of Italy would be useless and unsuccessful. 
He described the fowling methods in vogue in Italy, among 
^ This is the greatest error imaginable and remarkable in the mouth 
of an Italian. Italian fowlers can discriminate species of birds most nicely, 
for the prices of the bird-market vary according to species. O. H. 
