AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 69 
to these results: The starling is on the wing 16 of the 24 hours, and 
feed their young twenty times in the day, visiting their nest to carry 
food six hundred times in all. As the starlings have three broods in 
the season and rear about twenty young, he estimates that his two hun- 
dred pairs of these birds, with their young would be able to destroy, if 
there were so many, fifty-seven millions of these worms, in a single 
season. 
I have nearly exhausted the limits, but before leaving the subject I 
will give you a very brief account of the interesting movements and 
discussions on the subject of bird protection, now agitating the cantons 
of Switzerland. 
In March, 1869, the Confederative Council of Switzerland had under 
discussion the question of special legislation for the protection of birds. 
The movement was initiated by the Grand Council of the canton of 
Tessin, praying for a general enactment throughout Switzerland and 
also an international uniformity of law for the protection of useful 
birds, their own agriculture being in a suffering condition, owing to the 
‘unrestricted slaughter of birds. Before adopting any such interna- 
tional union, the Confederative Council addressed inquiries to the several 
local governments of each canton with the view to ascertain what local 
laws were now in force and how 4 a general uniformity of law was 
desired. These answers have been carefully preserved and made 
public. Some points they disclose are not without interest to us who 
are yet novices in the matter of bird-legislation. Ail of the great can- 
tons but one, and all but three in all, have their own cantonal laws, 
but all of these vary in many important respects. In one, Zurich, all 
useful birds are protected, and the magistrates having decided that all 
birds are useful, the whole feathered tribe are under the protection of 
the law. In different cantons different birds are outlawed or protected. 
Ravens, crows, magpies, even starlings, sparrows, linnets, ring-ouzels, 
and other birds of admitted value, are under the ban in here or there a 
single canton, and protected in all the others. In some, birds are pro- 
tected all the year; in others, only during a certain portion. In some 
a landed proprietor may shoot the birds on his own grounds, and in 
another he may not. Generally the fine is fifty francs for every offence, 
- but in some it is as low as five francs. A few punish with imprison- 
ment aggravated violation of law. Some punish the parents for the 
offences of their children. In several cantons, the value of birds and 
© 
SO / 
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