Birds - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition birds

Definition :

Birds. Larceny may be committed at Common Law of domestic fowls, as hens, ducks, geese, etc. (1 Hale, PC 511), and of tame pigeons, though unconfined, Reg. v. Cheafor, (1851) 2 Den CCR 361, and of tame pheasants, Reg. v. Head, (1857) 1 F&F 350; or partridges, Reg. v. Shickle, (1868) LR 1 CCR 158. The (English) Larceny Act, 1861, ss. 21-23, provides, that whoever shall steal, or kill with intent to steal, birds ordinarily kept in a state of confinement, or for any domestic purposes, not being the subject of larceny at Common Law, or shall be in possession of any such bird, or the plumage thereof, knowing the same to have been stolen, shall be punishable on summary conviction by fine or imprisonment.

As to unlawfully and wilfully killing or wounding house doves or pigeons under circumstances not amounting to larceny at Common Law, see (English) Larceny Act, 1861, s. 23, and Malicious Damage Act, 1861, s. 41. See also the (English) Poultry Act, 1911, and the Protection of Animals Act, 1911, as to cruelty to birds; and the (English) Captive Birds Shooting (Prohibition) Act, 1921, which prohibits the shooting of pigeons released from traps, etc.

All wild birds in the United Kingdom are protected during the breeding season by the (English) Wild Birds' Protection Acts, 1880 to 1908. As to nuisances in keeping poultry, etc., see (English) Public Health Act, 1936, ss. 80 and 81. The Act of 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 35) contains a list of specially protected birds, for shooting or taking which the maximum penalty is one pound, whereas the maximum penalty in the case of other wild birds is five shillings for a second or subsequent offence only, the Act directing that a first offender shall be reprimanded and discharged on payment of costs.

The Act of 1880 was amended in 1881, in 1894 when the taking of eggs was prohibited, in 1896, in 1902, allowing eggs wrongfully taken to be forfeited, and in 1904 it was extended to St. Kilda by 4 Edw. 7, c 10, and to the use of pole traps by 4 Edw. 7, c. 4, and in 1908 by 8 Edw. 7, c. 11, to the use of a hook in taking birds. As to publication of orders made under these Acts, see Duncan v. Knill, (1907) 96 LT 911; and as to what constitutes a wild bird 'recently taken,' see Green v. Garstang, (1901) 85 LT 615; Hollis v. Young, (1909) 1 KB 629; Protection of Birds Act, 1925 (18 & 19 Geo. 5, c. 31) (dealing with taking or capturing birds); Protection of Birds Act, 1933 (23 & 24 Geo. 5, c. 52) (taking and sale of certain wild birds in made illegal), and ANIMALS. See Aggs on Agricultural Holdings