Abstract
WE have now for many years had legislation in Great Britain for the protection of wild birds, in addition to the much older laws relating only to game. The desirability for such protection has received increasing recognition on humanitarian and aesthetic grounds, and it is also to be hoped that there is a growing realisation of the importance of the subject from an economic point of view. The different Acts which have successively been placed on the Statute Book have had varying merit as judged by the wisdom of their intentions, but where they have all so lamentably failed is in their ineffectiveness. This grave fault has been remedied in the wise measure which Viscount Grey of Fallodon has introduced into the House of Lords, and, although his Bill has many other good points, it is probably on that ground that we should chiefly welcome it. The Bill was read a third time on July 30, and a copy of it, as amended in committee, is before us. It is greatly to be hoped that the House of Commons will similarly pass the measure next session. The Bill aims at the repeal of all existing enactments on the subject, and at making complete provision on the new lines recommended in 1919 by the Departmental Committee on the Protection of Wild Birds. All birds to which the Bill applies-that is to say, all wild birds other than grouse, ptarmigan, partridges, pheasants, and black game-are divided into three categories, each of which is to receive its appropriate degree of protection, as follows:
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Lord Grey's Bill for the Protection of Wild Birds. Nature 112, 269–270 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/112269a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/112269a0