256 THE PROTECTION OF WILD BIRDS IN ESSEX.
they cleared off the eggs on the marsh-lands, but I do not think they troubled the
sands so much."
The Secretary sums up by saying that "a good beginning has
been made in the protection of the nests, and it is hoped that the
nesting-area will extend beyond the isolated spots where alone the
birds now build, though in small numbers, owing to disturbance in
the past."
The Wild Bird Protection Committee of the Essex County
Council have been considering how to remove the discrepancy
between the close seasons in Suffolk and Essex. It appears that
the close time in East Suffolk is now from the 1st of March to the
1st of September, whereas in Essex it is from the 15th of March to
the 1st of August. Observers on the coast are of opinion that the
close season in Essex should be extended, inasmuch as many of the
young birds are not ready to fly by the 1st of August. At the last
meeting of the County Council (on the 5th January, 1897) the
Committee recommended that application should be made to the
Secretary of State for an Order extending the close time from the
1st of August to the 1st of September for the whole county pro-
vided the East Suffolk County Council agreed to fix the commence-
ment of close time in that county on the 15th of March instead of
the 1st of March as at present. This recommendation was passed,
with the alteration that the period should be limited to the 15th
of August. Should the Home Secretary sanction this alteration, the
close time in Essex will therefore in future be from the 15th of March
to the 15th of August.
Another important recommendation adopted by the County
Council was as follows : Under the Act of 1896 it is provided that
the Secretary of State shall have power, on application made to him,
of issuing an Order prohibiting, for special reasons mentioned in
the application, the taking or killing of particular kinds of Wild
Birds during the whole or any part of that period of the year to
which the protection under the Act of 1880 does not extend, or the
taking or killing of all Wild Birds in particular places during the
whole or any part of that period. The recommendation so adopted
was that application should be made for an Order prohibiting the
taking or killing of such Wild Birds during the present open time, the
Order to apply to that portion of the county which is situate within
the Metropolitan Police District, and also to the parishes of Epping,
Theydon Bois, Theydon Garnon, and Lambourne. This, if sanctioned,