§ 68. Colonel Sir C. YATEasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the question of the great diminution in the number of plovers in the country owing to the sale of the birds and their eggs during the breeding season; and whether, considering the usefulness of these birds, he will introduce legislation limiting the time when plovers and their eggs can be exposed for sale?
§ Mr. SHORTTI have been asked to reply to this question. My attention has not been drawn to the alleged decrease, but the Government is fully alive to the usefulness of the lapwing to agriculture, and it is proposed to insert provisions for the protection of the bird and its eggs in the draft Wild Birds Protection Bill, which is now under consideration.