10 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



ments, and lectures (in some cases illustrated with 

 lantern slides lent by the Society), band parades 

 and processions, the acting of children's plays, and 

 tea-parties. It is impossible to give an account of 

 every festival, but the thanks of the Society may 

 be offered to those School Managers and teachers 

 whose co-operation throughout the year gave 

 practical form to the Society's scheme, and who 

 by their presence and kindly and stimulating 

 speeches, and their gifts of prizes and of trees to 

 plant, made Bird and Tree Day a day of happiness 

 and of happy memories for the children. 



BEDFORDSHIRE. 



The Bedfordshire Challenge Shield, won by 

 Clophill School, together with the prize books 

 awarded by the Society, were presented on 

 November 24th, by the Rector of the parish, the 

 Rev. H. Rollo Meyer, an old adherent of the 

 Society, who has taken warm interest in the 

 competition, and because of whose efforts the offer 

 of a Shield was first made to Bedfordshire in 1904. 

 A tea to all the children attending the schools, 

 followed by a varied entertainment, was organised 

 by Mr. and Mrs. Cunnington, the head teachers. 

 A large and enthusiastic audience of parents and 

 friends heartily applauded songs and recitations 

 by the children, an exhibition of musical drill, the 

 performance of a dramatic sketch by eight of the 

 boys, and the presentation of a pretty musical 

 tableau by the elder girls. The six prize essays 

 were read by Mr. Cunnington, and a suitable 

 address was given by the Rector. 



BERKSHIRE. 

 The Festival at Buckland was a two-days' 

 celebration, the tree-planting taking place on 

 November 30th, and the public meeting and dis- 

 tribution of prizes on February 9th, 1906. On 

 the earlier date some twenty trees and shrubs 

 were planted in the school garden, some by the 

 team, others by the younger children. In the 

 afternoon there was a festive tea, followed by a 

 short speech from the Vicar, and games, recita- 

 tions and songs filled up the evening. On 

 February 9th, the Shield and prizes were formally 

 presented by Sir William Anson, D.C.L. The 

 Vicar (Rev. W. Buhner) presided. In the course 

 of a suggestive address, Sir William said that it 

 was difficult for children to regard their school 

 work otherwise than as an irksome task, but this 

 study of Nature combined pleasure with instruc- 

 tion. Such knowledge, gained by their own effort 

 and observation, was invaluable, and remained a 



possession for life ; while by studying the habits 

 of birds on the lines laid down in this scheme, 

 they would be led to be loving and kind to all God's 

 creatures. He hoped that such teaching, by making 

 the countryside more interesting, would influence 

 some to remain in the villages. Sir William 

 Throckmorton, in thanking Sir William Anson for 

 journeying from Oxford to be present, said to his 

 mind the great value of the work was summed 

 up in one word — observation. Captain Loder 

 Symonds also spoke most sympathetically. 



CUMBERLAND. 

 The Kirkoswald Festival, held on December 12th, 

 was honoured by the presence of the Speaker of 

 the House of Commons (the Right Hon. J. W. 

 Lowther), who performed the ceremony of pre- 

 senting the Society's County Challenge Shield. 

 Unhappily the day was clouded by the death of 

 the much-loved vicar of the parish, the Rev. Canon 

 Thornley, who had taken the greatest interest in 

 the competition, and who passed away on the 

 1st of the same month. The Headmaster of the 

 Schools writes : " I had known him over nine 

 years, and I never saw him look so pleased as 

 on the day that the news came of the school's 

 success." With such a vicar, and a schoolmaster 

 thoroughly in sympathy with him, it is not perhaps 

 surprising that Kirkoswald carried off the Shield. 

 Canon Rawnsley took the late vicar's place at the 

 festival, and in an eloquent address at the tree- 

 planting in the Churchyard, with which the pro- 

 ceedings begun, he paid a touching tribute to 

 Canon Thornley, to whose memory he declared 

 those trees for ever sacred. Eleven trees and 

 shrubs were then duly planted by Mr. Lowther, 

 Canon Rawnsley, and the nine members of the 

 team. — A meeting in the schoolroom followed. 

 Alderman Potter presided, supported by Canon 

 Rawnsley and the Congregational and Wesleyan 

 ministers. Mr. C. C. Hodgson, Chairman of the 

 Cumberland Education Committee, was unavoid- 

 ably absent. The Speaker, in the course of an 

 interesting address, said that the first object ot 

 the bird and tree scheme was to cultivate the 

 mind of the individual, teaching habits of observa- 

 tion ; and the second purpose was to make country 

 life more attractive. The question as to which 

 birds were friends and which foes of the agricul- 

 turist and the gardener was one that required for 

 its solution not superficial, but very close and 

 careful watching. They might think a bird was 

 destroying a bud, but on examination might find 

 that it was after a little insect already in the bud. 



