146 
THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS IN HUNGARY 
The Hungarian Penal Code in force, or rather those parts 
of it concerned with this affair, punish with a fine or 
retortion only those cases of cruelty to animals perpetrated 
publicly and in a scandalising manner: and this is not 
enough to check those cases of cruelty perpetrated publicly, 
in which the force of habit or still more indifference has 
seen and, in part at least, still sees nothing to scandalise. 
The prevention of cruelty to animals laid the greatest 
stress on the protection of domestic animals, particularly dogs 
and horses: it could boast of undeniable successes, particu- 
larly in the Capital of Budapest, where the National S. P. 
C. A. was organised, and, besides that of its many enthusiastic 
members, gained the support of the Government and the 
State Police, a fact which led to splendid success. 
The agitation initiated by the N. S. P. C. A. resulted in 
the creation of branch societies in many parts of the country ; 
and what particularly characterised the movement was that 
it maintained a rational tendency. There was no drifting 
into the paths of the familiar „lamenting sentimentality" ; and 
though here and there voices were raised to insist upon that 
tendency, common sense always won the day, such being 
indeed a characteristic trait of the Hungarian spirit. 
The protection of birds in particular had its origin apart 
from the general movement for the prevention of cruelty to 
animals, and, in its own way, attained its present .organisa- 
tion and reached its culmination unaided. 
As we have seen in Part I, the Second Ornithological 
Congress was held at Budapest, in 1891 ; and, as is gene- 
rally admitted, the splendid preparations made for it and the 
excellent material discussed secured a significant success. 
This success inspired Count Albin Csaky, then Minister 
for Public Instruction, with the idea of further developing 
this success by some permanent institution. The Minister 
