Editing Oology (section)

===In the UK===
Legislation, such as the [[Protection of Birds Act 1954]] and [[Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981]] in the United Kingdom, has made it impossible to collect wild birds' eggs legally. In the United Kingdom, it is only legal to possess a wild-bird's egg if it was taken before 1954, or with a permit for scientific research; selling wild birds' eggs, regardless of their age, is illegal.<ref name="rspb" />

However, the practice of egg collecting, or egging, continues as an underground or illegal activity in the UK and elsewhere.<ref name="barkham" /><ref>{{cite news|last=George|first=Rose|title=Egg poachers at large|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/apr/07/animalwelfare.environment|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=9 November 2011|location=London|date=3 June 2003}}</ref> In the 1980s and 1990s, the fines allowed by the law were only a moderate deterrent to some egg collectors.<ref name="barkham">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/dec/11/g2.ruralaffairs | title= The egg snatchers | work=The Guardian | date=11 December 2006 | access-date=25 October 2012 | author=Barkham, Patrick | location=London}}</ref> However, the [[Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000]] allowed for six months' imprisonment for the possession of the eggs of wild birds<ref name="rspb">{{cite web|title=Egg Collecting|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/wildbirdcrime/egg_collection.aspx|work=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds|access-date=9 November 2011}}</ref> and, since it came into force, a number of individuals have been imprisoned, both for possessing and for attempting to buy egg collections.<ref name="barkham" /> The Jourdain Society continued to meet although membership dwindled after 1994, when a dinner of the society was raided by police, assisted by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). This resulted in six members being convicted and fined.<ref name="Rubinstein" />

Despite this, some of those who engage in egg collecting show considerable [[recidivism]] in their activity. One, [[Colin Watson (egg collector)|Colin Watson]], was convicted six times before he fell to his death in 2006, while attempting to climb to a nest high up in a tree.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/may/27/topstories3.mainsection?INTCMP=SRCH | title= The day Britain's most notorious egg collector climbed his last tree | work=The Guardian | date=27 May 2006 | access-date=25 October 2012 | author=Wainright, Martin | location=London}}</ref> While the threat of imprisonment after 2000 encouraged some to give up egg collecting,<ref name="barkham" /> others were not deterred. One individual has been convicted ten times<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dimmer |first=Sam |date=2014-03-05 |title=No bird for Longford egg collector after court date |language=en |url=http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/no-bird-longford-egg-collector-6776651 |access-date=2022-02-17}}</ref> and imprisoned twice.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/7162861.stm | title=Compulsion of prolific egg thief | work=[[BBC News]] | date=3 January 2008 | access-date=24 August 2020 | author=George, Sally}}</ref> As recently as 2018, a man was imprisoned for amassing a collection of 5000 eggs,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Peter |date=2018-11-27 |title=Man jailed and told to give his collection of 5,000 rare bird eggs to Natural History Museum |language=en-UK |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/norfolk-collector-daniel-lingham-must-give-his-5-000-rare-1310900 |access-date=2022-02-17}}</ref> after previously being imprisoned in 2005.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-11-27 |title=Norfolk man who illegally hoarded 5,000 rare eggs jailed |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-46358627 |access-date=2022-02-17}}</ref> Another man was convicted of possessing 200 eggs in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-04-23 |title=Wild birds' eggs theft: Huddersfield man sentenced |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-56860001 |access-date=2022-02-17}}</ref>

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has been particularly active in fighting illegal egg collection and maintains an investigative unit that collects intelligence on egg collectors and assists police in mounting prosecutions on them, in addition to investigating other wildlife crimes.<ref name="Rubinstein" /> At one point, RSPB staff were being trained by soldiers from the [[Brigade of Gurkhas]] in camouflage skills and in surveillance, map and radio techniques, to better enable them to guard nests of rare birds.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2002/may/29/uknews | title=Soldiers train RSPB staff to combat egg thieves | work=The Guardian | date=29 May 2002 | access-date=25 October 2012 | author=Brown, Paul | location=London}}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, to avoid the possibility of prosecution, owners of old egg collections must retain sufficient proof to show, on the balance of probabilities, that the eggs pre-date 1981. However owners of genuinely old collections are unlikely to face prosecution as experienced investigators and prosecutors are able to distinguish them from recently collected eggs.<ref name="RSPB-OldCollection">{{cite web | url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/law/old_collections/ | title=Old egg collections | publisher=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds | work=Advice | date=12 July 2004 | access-date=23 November 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306195710/http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/campaignwithus/law/old_collections/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-06}}</ref> It is illegal to sell a collection, regardless of the eggs' age, so old collections may only be disposed of by giving the eggs away or by destroying them. Museums are reluctant to accept donations of collections without reliable collection data (i.e. date and place that they were collected) that gives them scientific value. Also, museums no longer put egg collections on public display.<ref name="RSPB-Disposing">{{cite web | url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/law/old_collections/disposing.aspx | title=Disposing of old egg collections | publisher=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds | work=Advice | archive-url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/campaignwithus/law/old_collections/disposing.aspx|archive-date=2016-03-16|url-status=dead|date=30 January 2004 | access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref>