THE RSPB is worried that bird crime could lead to certain species becoming extinct.

It has been illegal to take birds' eggs from the wild since at least 1954, but still people in Cheshire and other areas, continue to ignore the law.

And egg collecting could soon have a "significant impact" on several rare breeding species found in Britain. "For the majority of egg-collectors no financial gain is made," said a spokesman for the RSPB.

"It is purely an obsessive and selfish activity resulting in nothing more than displaying the egg in a purpose-built cabinet to gaze at."

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence for any person to:

Kill, injure or take any wild bird.

Take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.

Take or destroy the egg of any wild bird.

Disturb certain wild birds while they are nest building, or at a nest.

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