HC Deb 22 April 1969 vol 782 cc65-6W
Mr. Burden

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the experiments at Cambridge in which chaffinches were artificially deafened took place.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

During 1964 and 1965.

Mr. Burden

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the chaffinches used in the Cambridge experiments were wild birds; and at what age they were taken.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

Yes; some were taken as nestlings, others as adult birds.

Mr. Burden

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many chaffinches were artificially deafened in the recent experiments at Cambridge; and how the birds were disposed of at the conclusion of the experiments.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

Twenty. As required by law, they were killed.