150 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
an amended Wild Life Protection Act printed twice and 
placed before the members of the House. If passed into 
law, this Bill weuld simplify the whole thing, as it pro-. 
poses a close season or absolute protection on all birds 
and animals that are not pests, and in its schedule only 
gives the names of the pests. It goes further: we propose 
that when a bird becomes a pest in a district. it can be 
scheduled as a pest in that district without interfering 
with it in other districts where it is harmless. Such birds 
as crows, wood swallows, honey-eaters, and bee-birds are 
serious pests in some localities; but in others are not only 
harmless, but valuable destroyers of insects. The atten- 
tion of thinking people has been turned to the immediate 
importance of doing something to stop the destruction 
of bird and animal life that, with the advance of settle- 
ment, is going on all over the world; and the creation of 
sanctuaries has been the chief practical solution of the 
question of effective preservation of wild life. 
A sanctuary is a tract of waste land, inland lake. 
marshes, swamp, coastal estuary, or forest land in its 
original state, ‘‘where man is passive and Nature is 
active.’’ In New South Wales at the present time, though 
there is quite a long list of so-called sanctuaries given 
at the end of the Game Act, the only two that are actual 
sanctuaries are the National Park and Kuring-gai Chase. 
with a few small reserves under more or less supervision 
at Jenolan and a few other cave reserves. A writer has 
said: ‘‘In itself, a sanctuary is a kind of wild ‘Zoo’ on 
a gigantic scale and under ideal conditions. As such, it 
appeals to everyone interested in animals, from the great- 
est zoologist to the mere holiday tourist. The strongest 
of all arguments is that sanctuaries, far from conflicting 
with other interests, actually further them. Only. a cer- 
tain amount of animal life can exist in a certain area. 
The surplus must go outside. So sanctuaries are more 
than wild ‘Zoos’; they are overflowing reservoirs, fed by 
their own springs, and feeding streams of life at every 
outlet.’’ 
The Progress Associations of the Blue Mountains and 
other tourist resorts could do valuable work in protect- 
ing wild life, and add to the beauty and charm of their 
districts if they would only prosecute any person shoot- 
ing within their districts. 
