308 
Bird Protection 
r The Emu 
L April 
and orchardists is becoming scarcer, and in offences of this 
kind, where the Act is broken with impunity, they should impose 
substantial penalties on the offenders. 
We find that the biggest offender is the junior who, with his 
pea rifle and catapult and egg collecting mania, wrecks infinitely 
more bird life than anything else that we know of. It is sin¬ 
cerely hoped that the honorary work which your association is 
performing in Central Queensland will in future get better 
recognition in the CourT when it has occasion to go there in 
defence of bird protection. 
You will be pleased to hear in regard to your Committee’s 
recommendations to the Home Secretary’s Department asking 
that suppressive measures be prepared and passed in connection 
with the pea rifle menace, that a Bill to “Regulate the sale and 
use of Firearms and to guard against the careless use thereof” 
is to be submitted to Parliament at its next session. 
The need for sanctuaries in the preservation of bird life is 
now well recognised throughout Australia, and you will be glad 
to know that an extra reserve has been recently proclaimed under 
the Act for No. 2 district. 
For the guidance of the public your committee during the year 
had published in the local dailies a list of birds that are partly 
and permanently protected throughout Queensland, and the usual 
notices of warning against committing breaches was also in¬ 
serted in the local press, and notice boards have had the usual 
attention. 
It was pleasing to note that our bird reserves or sanctuaries 
were respected during the year, and very little, if any, illegal 
shooting was done on them. 
The opening of the duck season was, unfortunately for some, 
very disappointing. Throughout the whole of the shooting 
season the absence of waterfowl on our swamps and lagoons was 
very pronounced. The unusually good rainfall throughout 
Queensland had a lot to do with this shortage. 
Reports show that the birds never left their haunts in the 
north-west and the far outback blocks. The food and water 
supplies being plentiful in these parts, the birds settled down to 
breeding, and so remained away from our district. 
GREBE PLUMAGE. 
.Mr. H. S. Gladstone and Mr. P. R. Lowe, International Com¬ 
mittee for the Protection of Birds (British Section), write: — 
I he attention of this committee has been drawn to the recent 
slaughter and attempted import of Grebes for the purpose of 
j^ vlvin S the Victorian fashion in the plumage of these birds. 
Undei the circumstances you will perhaps permit us to give 
le public some information about this violation of the Plumage 
