PROTECTION. 
A COPY of the Wild Birds Protection Act as applied to the 
county, and as now in force, follows hereafter. It is note- 
worthy that in protecting the Woodcock from February 1st 
to October 1st, Dumfriesshire, with Kirkcudbrightshire and 
Wigtownshire, has given the lead to the rest of Scotland, 
in granting what must be regarded as a most beneficial 
close-time to this species, and it is to be hoped that this 
sportsmanlike example may be as unselfishly followed by the 
rest of Great Britain, on the first opportunity. The Sheld- 
Duck is protected throughout the year, as being a harmless 
and ornamental species on our coast, and it is encouraging 
to know that this bird has already increased during the 
currency of this Order. Prosecutions under the Act have 
been few and far between, and it is satisfactory to find that 
the community at large regard the protection of birds and 
their eggs as neither injudicious nor irksome. 
Is it too much to hope that the various (and it is to 
be regretted, varying) County Council Orders for the 
protection of birds may one day be drawn up by a 
competent committee of ornithologists, so as to apply to 
the individual requirements of every county in Great Britain 
and Ireland, and thus ensure the effectual protection of 
our British avifauna ? 
COUNTY OF DUMFRIES. 
The Wild Birds Protection Order, 1908. 
Whereas the Wild Birds Protection (County of Dumfries) 
Order, 1905, will expire on the twenty-ninth day of February, 
1908 : 
And whereas it is expedient to renew the said Order : 
