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Royal 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
Society 
| for the Protection of Birds. | 
44 Nw aoa! 
ash British President, Her Grace the Duchess of Portland 
— AUSTRALIAN 
BRANCH.— 
PRESIDENT—LADY BONYTHON. | 
VICE-PRESIDENTS—Riaur Honovuraste SIR S. J. WAY, 
Bart, anp Mes. JOHN PLAYFORD. | 
HON. SECRETARY—MISS S WARE. 
Several Aspects of the Protection of Our Native Birds 
[By Walter W. Froggatt, Government Entomologist, in the 
‘ Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W.’] 
(Continued from last issue.) 
The question then arises, who is to 
administer an effective Fauna Protection 
Act? And this. question has been 
answered by the only two agricultural 
countries that have taken up the 
protection in a practical manner—the 
Kingdom of Hungary and the Unitea 
States of America. 
They have solved the matter by making 
this necessary protection a branch of the 
Department of Agriculture; and the 
officials of the Departments, in 
conjunction with’ the officers of the 
Forestry Departments, look after birds 
and beasts, and study the many side issues 
that come up through a more or less 
artificial condition when absolute 
protection is enforced, On the Ist of 
July, 1886, the United States’ Congress 
established a section of Hconomic 
Ornithology, under the direction of 
Dr. Hart Merriam, to carry out 
investigations, to include the food 
habits, distribution, and migrations of 
‘North American birds and mammals, in 
relation to agriculture, horticulture, and 
forestry. In 1896 this branch became a 
‘division, under the broader title of the 
Division of Biological Survey. 
In the offices of this division at 
Washington there are thousands of 
stomachs of birds which have been 
examined and tabulated, so that the food 
habits can be determined, and their value 
as insect destroyers or otherwise 
demonstrated. Maps are prepared 
showing the migrations and range of the 
different birds and animals; and, while 
the protection of useful ones is advocated, 
the methods of dealing with noxious ones 
are also closely studied. 
The Hungarian Central Office for 
Ornithology was instituted in 1894, by . 
Count Albon Caaky, Minister of Public 
Instruction; and, after having been an 
appendage of the Royal Museum for some 
years, it was transferred to the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. 
In 1901 Ignicz Daranye, Minister of 
Agriculture, issued a Circular Decree, 
which is one of the most complete and . 
‘well thought-out “Bird an Animal Pro- | 
tection Acts in existence. 
August 2, 1909 
The writer recently met Dr. Otto 
Herman, who has charge of the Office for 
Ornithology, whose untiring energy has 
made it such a successful movement; for 
not only does he protect all the useful 
birds, but he shows the people all through 
the country their value. A map has been 
drawn up in which are marked 100 
stations, scattered all over Hungary, where 
professional ornithologists record the 
migration of as many species as possible; 
and, besides this, there are 1,300 State 
foresters, who record the movements of 
the commoner species. 
Artificial nesting-boxes were found 80 
useful to all the birds that nest in holes 
in trees, that a factory for making them 
was started; and two years ago (1906) the 
Minister ordered the Hungarian Central 
Office for Ornithology to present a scheme 
to supply these artificial nesting-boxes to 
the State forests, comprising 5,000,000 
acres; and this work is now in hand, 
It will therefore be seen that the 
matter of bird protection on a scientific 
basis is no new thing, and has received 
a great deal of attention in different 
countries. 
However, in going into the matter we 
will find that there are many unnoticed 
influences to effect the distinctive fauna of 
any new country like Australia. , 
There is not the least question that, with 
the advance of civilisation, when cities 
spring up, the forest disappears, and 
where the farmer ploughs the land the 
natural herbage vanishes, so that the 
thousands of little creatures, from insects. 
to birds and animals, die out or move on 
as their food supply fails; for it is» not 
‘only the gun of the hunter that kills: 
Now, if you destroy the natural food of 
any bird or animal, it may, if of an 
adaptable nature, find some of the crops. 
grown by the farmer or gardener just as 
suitable for food as the original supply; so- 
that which was under natural conditions, 
if not useful, at least a har.aless creature, 
now becomes a pest. 
(To be Continued,) . 
y bat Pea Sauuseyl, Livi baat 
5 ero, ata ie & 9 ) 
Those desirous of joining the Royal 
Society for the Protection of Birds should 
communicate with the ‘Hon.’ Sécretary— 
Miss §. Ware, 112 South Terrace E., 
Adelaide. Any person *maybecome an 
associate on paying the sum of csixpence 
(children under 14, threepence), as 
registration fee, and agreeing to the ob- 
jects of.,the, Society. Associates may 
become members on agreeing to pay not. 
‘less than one shilling annually, di 
