§ Mr. MATHERSI beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to repeal certain enactments providing for the protection of wild birds in Scotland; and to substitute other provisions therefore.Before the House proceeds to more contentious matters, I hope that an opportunity will be given to me to show that there is considerable unanimity in support of this Bill. Scotland is rich in wild bird life, and it is to endeavour more effectively to conserve those immaterial riches that this Bill is brought forward. I do not know whether in our familiarity with those riches we have them fully in mind, but I am sure that those Scots throughout the world who yesterday celebrated St. Andrew's Day had in mind the riches that Scotland possesses in this respect. I am sure that the feelings of many of them are represented by the words so well written by my hon. Friend the Member for Bothwell (Mr. Welsh) when he was exiled for a time in New Zealand and felt the call of the home country:
I can hear the wild whaup mournin', Wi' his eerie hauntin' sigh, And the circlin', swoopin' lapwing Raspin' oot his twa-fauld cry, And the wee bit birds a' cheerie singin' Sets ma hert aflame, But I maunna let them draw me, For I'm no' gaun harne.[HON. MEMBERS: "Translate."] I have only ten minutes and to indulge in a translation would take up too much of my time, but for the benefit of those who labour under the disadvantage of not being Scotsmen, I suggest that they should apply their full intelligence to the reading of this verse in the OFFICIAL REPORT to-morrow, and then perhaps with the assistance of a Scotsman they will be able to grasp, at least, a sense of the beauty of these words of my hon. Friend. The proposition made by this Bill is to alter the principle of protection of wild birds in Scotland in this way: At present the protection is extended to certain birds which are named in county orders. The Bill seeks to alter that method entirely and to protect all wild birds except those which for certain purposes are excluded 1036 from protection. In the Plumage Bill, for which I am responsible, the legitimate trade in ostrich feathers is not interfered with, and so in this Bill it is not proposed to interfere with the Game Acts and game birds are excluded from the protection which I seek. There is also a Schedule attached to the Bill naming a certain number of quasi game birds.The principle of applying protection to all birds in a general way and excluding those which I have mentioned, and, in addition, excluding those which are a menace to human interests or to the interests of other bird life, is a principle that is now working, and working well I am told, in the Isle of Man, in the Channel Islands and in Northern Ireland. I am hoping under this Bill to have that principle applied in Scotland, and later on, perhaps as a result of the experience in Scotland, English Members may decide to establish the same principle in England. The Bill seeks to repeal seven Acts of Parliament dealing with wild bird protection. That is an indication of how the protection of wild birds is going to be simplified. At the present time the excuse can be made, if a rare bird is shot or destroyed in any way, that the individual who destroyed it did not know that the particular bird was protected. Indeed, if sufficiently rare it may not be protected because of its being unknown. There will be no excuse of that kind if the Bill passes. But where human interests or the interests of other bird life are menaced it will be possible for county orders to be passed, authorised by the Secretary of State for Scotland, giving a right, for the time that the order lasts, to destroy birds which are a menace in these ways. Having given that very brief indication of the way in which the Bill will work, I beg to move the Motion.
Question put, and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Mathers, Mr. Chapman, Marquess of Clydesdale, Mr. Foot, Mr. Henderson Stewart, and Mr. Westwood.