BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



39 



letter how he set a fashion for Birds' Christmas 

 Trees : — 



" Some thirty years ago I was confined to the 

 house by illness during a heavy snowfall, and 

 watching the poor birds in the garden it occurred 

 to me that a meat-bone attached to a string and 

 thrown across a tree, so as to be out of the reach 

 of cats, would help to keep small insectivorous 

 birds from starvation. The experiment proved a 

 great success, and I wrote a brief letter to the 

 Times. In a day or two the trees in all the 

 London squares were decorated with bones 

 dangling from their branches ; one of the illus- 

 trated papers gave a full-page engraving of some- 

 thing resembling a Christmas-tree ornamented 

 with bones, and Robins, Tits, Wrens, etc., feeding 

 merrily. 



" Many years afterwards, while I was living in 

 France, my children brought home a lesson book 

 from school, and I there found again my old friend 

 from the illustrated paper, a Christmas-tree laden 

 with bones for the birds." 



COUNCIL MEETINGS. 



The Council held their quarterly meeting at Xo. 

 3, Hanover Square, on October 19th, 1906, when 

 there were present : Mr. Montagu Sharpe, Chair- 

 man ; Mr. E. Bell, Hon. A. Dobson, Hon. Mrs. 

 Drewitt, Dr. Drewitt, Miss Hall, Hon. Mrs. 

 Henniker, Mr. Hudson, Rev. A. L. Hussey, Sir G. 

 Kekewich, Mr. F. King, Mrs. Lemon, Miss Pollock, 

 Mr. Howard Saunders, the Hon. Secretary, and the 

 Secretary. The Hon. Secretary's report stated that 

 a satisfactory reply had been received from the 

 Government of India to the Society's petition that 

 the regulations prohibiting the export of bird-skins 

 and plumage be not rescinded ; the reply stated 

 that although the Government had been ap- 

 proached by the trade on the subject, they saw no 

 reason for withdrawing or modifying the Order. 

 Correspondence with regard to various County 

 Council Orders was reported. It was resolved 

 that the new regulations regarding Bird and Tree 

 Challenge Shields be further considered, and the 

 best thanks of the Council were voted to the 

 Chairman for his gift of dies for the Society's 

 Medal and for Bird and Tree Medals. 



H.S.H. Princess Victor of Hohenlohe-Langen- 

 burg and H.H. the Ranee of Sarawak were elected 

 Vice-Presidents. Four Fellows, Mr. Leonard 

 Noble, Miss Smith-Gordon, Mr. L. Hardy, M.P., 

 and Mr. Geoffrey Meade-Waldo, and 17 Members 

 were elected. The appointment of the Hon. 

 Gladys Graham-Murray as Hon. Secretaryfor Perth- 

 shire was confirmed, and the resignationof Mrs. J. H. 

 Allchin as Secretary for Maidstone was reported. 



A motion in the name of Mr. Meade- Waldo : 

 " That steps be taken for a Bill to be introduced 

 into Parliament during the autumn session to 

 prohibit all killing and taking of wild birds on 

 Sundays throughout Great Britain," was considered 

 and it was arranged that the matter be brought 

 forward for discussion at the Society's conference. 

 Bird Protection on Grassholm, Lundy Island, and 

 Horn Head (co. Donegal) was considered and 

 various other matters were discussed. 



The Council met again on December 14th. Mr. 

 Montagu Sharpe presided, and there were also 

 present : Mr. Bell, Sir John Cockburn, Hon. Mrs. 

 Drewitt, Dr. Drewitt, Mr. Dresser, Miss Hall, Mr. 

 Hudson, Mr. King, Mrs. Lemon, Miss Pollock, 

 Mr. Saunders, Mr. Trevor-Battye, Mrs. Owen 

 Visger, the Hon. Secretary, and the Secretary. 

 The Hon. Secretary reported on the Bird and 

 Tree Competition awards and on the festivals 

 already held. A letter from the Home Office as 

 to intended legislation for the further protection of 

 wild birds was read, and the subjects suggested 

 at the recent Conference were discussed. Modi- 

 fications as to the County Competitions were con- 

 sidered, and directions given in connection with 

 Watchers for the year 1907. Three Fellows, Mr. 

 F. E. Streeter, Mrs. Percy Withers, and Mrs. H. H. 

 Wills, and fourteen Members were elected. 



SUNDAY BIRD-PROTECTION. 



With regard to the suggested Sunday Bird Pro- 

 tection Bill, considered by the Council and the 

 Conference, it may be explained that by the 

 present law the prohibition of Sunday bird-catching 

 and bird-killing may be effected under a clause in 

 the Act of 1896, which enables County Councils to 

 apply for an Order prohibiting "for special reasons 

 mentioned in the application, the taking or killing 

 of all wild birds in particular places during the 

 whole or any part of" that period of the year not 

 covered by Close Time protection. As the whole 

 of a county is not regarded by the Home Office 

 as a " particular place " it is necessary to name 

 the portions to be protected or the portions not 

 to be protected ; and although this difficulty 

 may in some cases be overcome in a simple 

 manner— as in Middlesex, where such an urban 

 parish as Hornsey is exempted in order to meet 

 the requirement— it has led to much complication 

 and trouble elsewhere. In the nineteen counties 

 where such an Order has been obtained, perplex- 

 in- and cumbersome lists of petty sessional 



