9 
herrings might be brought to the breakfast-table if there were 
no gulls to share the feast, oblivious of the amazing fecundity 
of the ocean and the not infrequent glut in the fish markets. 
Any relaxation of the present Close Time regulations so as to 
permit unrestricted shooting of specified birds during that 
season is strongly to be deprecated as giving easy opening 
for evasion of the law and rendering its enforcement more 
difficult than it is now. 
Misapprehension as to the state of the law and difficulty in Leg-ai 
comprehending it, which are of continual occurrence, point to maclmi ery. 
the recognized need for the consolidation and simplification 
of the Acts. At present, however, there is little prospect of 
legislation, and the best must be made of the machinery to 
hand, which in a majority of cases can be made effectual if fully 
utilised, With a view to assisting the general public in the 
matter, especially in reference to bird-catching, the Council has 
supplemented its publications, “ Acts and Orders,” “ Summary Bird- 
of Acts, with list of birds,” and “ Bird-Law Bhymes,” by a catclur ^* 
leaflet entitled “ How to help in Bird Protection.” But it 
cannot be said that the law or public opinion is in altogether 
a satisfactory condition with regard to the catching of wild 
birds and the private traffic permitted in this public property. 
While our rarest birds go, so to speak, in fear of their lives at 
the hands of collectors and of gamekeepers, and ornamental 
species are depleted by trading naturalists, many of the more 
common birds of the countryside find equally determined enemies 
in the bird-catchers who supply the dealers’ shops, the public- 
house singing contests, and the public-house shoots. The many 
cases of cruelty to birds brought before the courts since the 
passing of the Wild Animals in Captivity Protection Act, and 
the occasional revelations as to the sufferings and death-rate 
of wild birds in dealers’ hands, and during carriage by rail or 
on shipboard, must eventually result in rousing the public mind 
on the subject.* 
The continued serious decrease in the number of swallows, The 
noted both in Great Britain and on the Continent, urgently 
calls for investigation and for international action. Immense 
numbers of the birds are known to be killed annually on 
migration in France and Italy, both for the table and for 
the plume trade. Swallows’ wings are extensively used in 
millinery, and whole birds, imported from Europe, and usually 
immature specimens, are to be seen by the hundred in the shops 
* During 1904 the R.S.P.C.A. obtained 130 convictions under the Wild 
Birds Protection Acts, and 29 under the Wild Animals in Captivity Act as 
regards birds. 
