BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



5 



represent well-informed opinion. In a tropical 

 island the need for birds to check the ravages of 

 insects is especially great, but it is pointed out 

 that many species which feed on the seeds of 

 grasses and weeds should also be protected by 

 stringent laws ; the only birds reckoned injurious 

 being a few which feed on fruit and have no 

 beauty of song or plumage to redeem their 

 character. The present game laws of Dominica, 

 it is stated, are exceedingly primitive. Valuable 

 insect-eating birds are wantonly killed by the 

 natives for food, although the amount of meat on 

 their bodies is almost nil ; and boys are allowed 

 to snare, trap, and torture with impunity. " Such 

 offences should be severely dealt with, and the 

 mere possession of snares, traps, or birds in 

 captivity should be made an offence/' The value 

 of migrants from America is also dwelt upon. 

 Birds, it is noted, "are very quick to appreciate 

 a spot where they are protected, and will invariably 

 visit such localities to the exclusion of others less 

 favourable to their welfare. This fact is well illus- 

 trated in Bermuda, where immense numbers of 

 migrants arrive annually, although far out of the 

 usual course of bird migration." 



the old home of Eagles and Harriers. The bird 

 measured 7 ft. gh in. from tip to tip of the wings, 

 and 3 ft. 2 in. from beak to tail. 



In New South Wales. 



New South Wales, like our own country, is 

 beginning to cry out for a more simple Bird 

 Protection law, doing away with elaborate 

 schedules. Mr. Montagu Rothery, secretary of 

 the Animals Protection Society, writes to the 

 Sydney Mail (November 8th, 1905) : "There can 

 be no disputing the fact that most stringent rules 

 are necessary to check the ruthless destruction of 

 our native birds .... There should be a simple 

 Act, which should protect every bird in the State 

 (native and foreign, other than game) perpetually. 

 Then there should be two schedules, one to consist 

 of those birds considered as pests, the other for 

 game. I do not think that either schedule would 

 number more than a do/en birds." 



Rare Birds. 



Among interesting rare birds recently killed in 

 the British Isles may be mentioned a White-tailed 

 Eagle in Staffordshire, a Greenland Falcon in 

 Carrickfergus, and a Bittern near Nottingham. 

 The Eagle, writes Mr. J. K. B. Masefield, was 

 the first authentic occurrence of the bird in 

 Staffordshire since 179-. It was first seen circling 

 over Stone , was next viewed at Sandon, and 

 then sought the open country of Cannock t 



A.D. 937. 



The white-tailed Eagle is referred to in the 

 song on the battle of Brunanburh in our Saxon 

 Chronicle for the year 937 : — 



They left behind them 

 The swart raven 

 With horned neb 

 The pallid carcases to share 

 And him of goodly plumage 

 The Eagle white behind, 

 The greedy war hawk 

 And that grey beast 

 The wolf in the wood 

 The carrion to devour. 

 No slaughter has been greater 

 In this island. 



Borough Councils and Bird Protection. 



The case of the Bittern is notable as illustrating 

 the need for County Borough, as well as County 

 Bird Protection Orders. The Bittern is fully 

 protected in the County of Nottingham ; it 

 wandered within the borough limits, and was 

 shot. Many persons are probably unaware that 

 a County Council Bird Protection Order is entirely 

 inoperative in County Boroughs within the county. 

 Others argue that it is not worth while to protect 

 the birds of a town (no matter how extensive its 

 suburbs), on the ground that town birds are all 

 common species not requiring protection beyond 

 the general Close Time prescribed by the Act. 

 The Nottingham Bittern is a useful object lesson. 



LECTURES. 



A very large number of lectures in connection 

 with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 or illustrated by lantern slides from its collection, 

 have been given during the past three months. 

 Advantage has been freely taken of the offer 01 

 lectures made at the Autumn Conference, or 

 subsequently, by Mr. Hastings Lees, Mr. Clement 

 Pike, and Mr. I'. \Y. Ashley. Mr. Hastings Lees. 

 in particular, has most kindly filled a number of 

 engagements in counties as far distant as Sussex, 

 Suffolk, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire. At Duffield 

 near Derby, .1 highly successful drawing-room 

 meeting was organised by the 1 1 en. F. S. O'Grady, 

 lion. Local Sec. lor Derbyshire, followed by a 

 schoolroom meeting in the evening, Mr. Lees and 

 Mr. Storrs Fox were the chief speakers. In spite 



