6 THE AUDUBON BOULUE Tigy 

Bird Protection in Europe 
The following letter from Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson telling of the results of his study 
of the status of bird protection in Europe gives a very clear understand- 
ing of the necessity for a world wide campaign for 
bird protection 
Dear Mr. Schantz: 
ANY of the principles for bird study and bird protection 
which in this country we regard as rudimentary ones, have 
no place in European countries. For example, here no one 
may collect birds’ eggs without securing state and federal permits for 
that purpose. In Great Britain there is practically no such restriction 
and the egg collecting craze like a scourge is sweeping the British Isles. 
Literally hundreds of men and boys in the employ of wealthy egg- 
collectors are searching fields and woods in spring for birds’ eggs. 
In western Europe the eggs of the Lapwing, Stone Curlew and 
Oystercatcher are collected in vast numbers and sold in the markets 
as food. Throughout southern Europe songbirds are widely eaten. The 
little Skylark, for example, which was immortalized by Shelley, and 
which has had a place in literature almost ever since there has been 
iterature, is netted, trapped, caught by bird limes and shot in enormous 
numbers. More than 200,000 are known to have been shipped from 
Belgium to France for food in the winter of 1913-14. Nearly every 
land-owner in Belgium, I am informed, has an ingenious device with 
little mirrors which is whirled in the field and used in attracting Sky- 
larks within range of the spoilers. In the fall and winter one may see 
long strings of these birds hanging in front of the markets in southern 
Europe. 
We prohibit spring-shooting of wild fowl in the United States, but 
there is very little prohibition of this kind in Europe. The President 
of a bird protective society in Switzerland seemed surprised when | 
made this suggestion, and replied by asking a question. He said, 
“Why should we protect migratory birds in Switzerland for the benefit 
of people who kill them to the north and south of us?” 
There is certainly need here for international bird protection con- 
ventions to be held. There are practically no convictions for violation 
of the bird and game laws in Hungary or Italy. In 1921 there were only 
sixty convictions in all of France for the illegal killing of birds. In New 
York State alone there were over 1,000 during the same period. 
On the other hand, in England and Scotland there is a widespread 
personal interest in birds. ‘The-small birds there are very abundant. 
It seems to be part of the creed of every cultivated Englishman to have 
a personal knowledge of the names and appearances of flowers and 
