The Bill
The Bill has already sailed smoothly through the House of Lords, but has been wrecked in the Commons. It has now been withdrawn in order that a necessary amendment may be made, and it will be brought forward again shortly. (The amendment stipulates that the close time for wild duck and geese is to start on February rst, but below high-tide mark of spring tides to begin on February zrst. The date of pro- hibition of import is to begin on February 1st.) It is worth noting that the I.C.B.P. is being very honest about the Bill, which it admits is far from perfect, and is in reality a measure of compromise. But what it does believe is that it will give a lead in Europe on an urgent question, and that it will help greatly in conserving the stock of wildfowl in the Northern Hemisphere. Even as an imperfect compromise, therefore, the Bill, which will protect such lovely species as eider duck, mallard, pochard, shelldrake, shoveller, smew, teal and widgeon, is extremely important. Bird lovers should remember that they can help it in the usual way by writing to their local M.P., or they can help both it and the society responsible for it by becoming members of the I.C.B.P., whose address is the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park. They will find that this is not the first time that that organisation has done powerful work on problems of international bird protection.
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