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tection. 
Royal 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
June J, 1909 
Society 
(>| for the Protection of Birds. 
British ?resident, Her Grace the Duchess of Portland } 
— AUSTRALIAN BRANCH.— 
PRESIDENT—LADY BONYTHON. 
| 
VICE-PRESIDENTS—Rigur Honovrasun SIR 8S. J. WAY, & 
Barr. anp Mrs, JOHN PLAYFORD. 
HON. SECRETARY—MISS S WARE. 
Several Aspects of the Protection of Our Native Birds 
[By Walter W. Frogyatt, Government Entomologist, in the 
‘ Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W.’] 
The writer, from his earliest boyhood, 
has known and loved the birds and 
animals of Australia, and no one is more 
interested, both from an economic and 
sentimental point of view, in their pro- 
He hopes to see all the existing 
Acts simplified, and enforced by some 
recognised authority. At the same time 
it is recognised that, unless the people 
themselves are awakened to the beauty 
and value of our wonderful bird» and 
animal fauna, no Act, however good, can 
be of much use. 
Nature study is the order of the day; 
our children are all being taught the 
wonders of the wild bush around them. 
Once let our schoolmasters take up the 
cause of the ‘beasties,’ both great and: 
small, over the length and breadth of the 
land, and the birds’ nests will not be’ 
destroyed. We will not see strings of 
birds’ eggs, collected by a misguided 
student of nature, festooning the master’s 
study, or the ladies. adorning their hats 
with the more or less grotesquely stuffed 
‘skins or heads of birds that have been 
unfortunate. enough when alive to be good 
looking. F ° 
If the fashionable lady, with the heron 
plumes in her-hat, thought of the dead 
nestlings left to starve to death because 
their poor mother had some fine feathers 
on her head, would she wear them for a 
sinzle da)? 
There are many side issues in a matter 
of this kind, some of which I have tried 
to point out in these notes, and which are 
not taken into’ consideration by many 
people.. ee. abs 
The protection of our animals and birds 
must be carried out in a practical manner, 
both on a scientific and. economic basis; 
we must know something about the 
habits of the creatures we are protecting, 
so that we do not include any species that 
the man on the land can prove to be in- 
jurious. 
We would do well to look round and 
see what is happening in: other parts of 
the world. Though many countries have 
had game laws in force for hundreds of 
years, with very drastic punishments 
meted out to the man who shot the king’s 
deer, as inthe good old Norman times 
in Merrie England, fer instance, it was 
only within quite modern times that such 
a thing as protecting birds and animals 
was considered-in any other manner: 
The first-Acts to come into force have 
always been game laws, not to protect 
birds for their beauty or use to the com- 
munity, but they might increase and 
breed, so that they would furnish sport 
to the hunters, who, in some instances, 
‘were the wealthy few, who had their sport 
at their expense of the general public. | 
Later on, game laws were modified on 2 
more honest plan to protect the animals 
and birds with a‘close season’ so that 
they could breed without being molested, 
for they were recognised as having a cash 
value as game. 
Next came the practical observer, who 
pointed out that the birds which fed upon 
insects that destroyed plants, pasturage, 
and crops must have also a cash value to 
the man who made his living out of the 
land. Then we had the first Bird Pro- 
tection Acts for the preservation of 
insectivorous birds, because they des- 
troyed insect pests and other vermin. 
The protection of our native fauna 
must start with an cconomic basis, not a 
sentimental one. First, show the man 
.on the land the economic value of the 
bird or beast; demonstrate that the bird 
is working for him in devouring des- 
tructive insects, or has a value as game, 
and he will not allow its wanton 
destruction, and you will need no police- 
man nor warden to enforce the clauses of 
the Act. Then let the teacher come along 
and show our rising generation the beauty 
of form and colour, the place in the woods 
and fields of each living creature, and he 
will soon create the sentimental side of 
the question, and our birds and beasts will 
be protected simply because they are birds 
and beasts and do no harm, but add to 
the beauty and cheerfulness of the sur- 
roundings. 
We have in each of the Australian 
States a more or less comprehensive Bird 
and Animals Protection Act, each of 
which, with perhaps a few minor alter- 
ations, is quite sufficient to do all that is 
required, if it is only enforced.. There is 
very little use in passing an Act of Par- 
liament if there is no machinery t0 
enforce it; and, broadly speaking, all our 
Bird Protection Acts are dead Acts, be- 
cause there is nobody whose business it is 
to carry them out. Like many other 
things that nobody else wants to deal 
with, they are passed on to the poor 
harassed district policeman, who, however 
willing, has not the time, if he had the 
special knowledge required, to administer 
them. 
(To be Continued,) 
—<——___ 
Those desirous of joining the Royal 
Society for the Protection of Birds should 
communicate with the Hon. Secretary— 
Miss §. Ware, 112 South Terrace E.; 
Adelaide. 
