THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fourth Series .— Vol. XI.— No. 3. —All rights reserved. MARCH, 1933.



LORD BUCKMASTER’S BILL


A Bill has been introduced in the House of Lords by Lord

Buckmaster which seeks to make it illegal to capture or “ keep in

a cage or other receptacle ” any bird included in the schedule which

accompanies the Bill, a schedule which includes practically every

bird on the British list with the exception of crows, magpies, and

a few others.


What does this imply ? It means that everyone who has a British

bird in his possession must, if the Bill becomes law, either wring its

neck or turn it loose to starve within six months of the passing of the

Act. It means also that whereas the rich man can keep his foreign

birds, the poor man who cannot afford these can keep no birds at

all unless he is content with canaries.


The keeping of birds is a custom of great antiquity, and everyone

who is prepared to keep birds under suitable conditions should have

every right to do so. Moreover, bird keepers are invariably bird

lovers and take a pride and delight in the health and happiness of

their pets ; and the working man has every bit as much right to keep

his Goldfinch or Linnet as has the nobleman his Cranes or Emus.


That the conditions under which birds are kept and sold in certain

shops in the East End are far from ideal we are prepared to believe,

and if there is any cruelty involved the R.S.P.C.A. should take the



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