International Protection of Birds

Abstract

THE recently re-organised British National Section of the International Committee for Bird Preservation met on January 15 at the British Museum (Natural History). There were present Mr. Percy R. Lowe (chairman); Dr. F. H. A. Marshall (Royal Society); Mr. Hugh Gladstone and Mr. David Seth-Smith (Zoological Society of London); Dr. G. Carmichael Low (British Ornithologists' Union); Mrs. Frank E. Lemon and Mr. A. Holte Macpherson (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds); Mr. N. B. Kinnear and Mr. Hugh Whistler (National Trust); Mr. D. A. Bannerman and Mr. G. E. Lodge (Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves); Mr. C. W. Hobley (Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire); and Miss Phyllis Barclay-Smith (hon. secretary). The chairman made reference to the great advance made by the International Committee for Bird Preservation during the past two years, and paid tribute to the pioneer work of its chairman, Dr. Gilbert Pearson, of the United States. Among the subjects which are engaging the activities of the British Section at the present moment are a proposed International Convention for the Preservation of Birds, to take the place of the Paris Convention of 1902, the further protection of the quail from an international point of view, and an investigation as to the actual status of wild duck in the British Isles. The question as to whether there may not be a serious decrease in the numbers of wild duck is giving rise to considerable anxiety to ornithologists and sportsmen.