44 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



pupils. Collections in general were most objec- 

 tionable, but at the same time he thought that a 

 school collection showing some of the common 

 birds was desirable, just to teach the. children 

 what they were like. He hoped it would soon be 

 possible to have collections of model eggs to 

 supersede the real ones. It was satisfactory to 

 know that the manufacture of nesting-boxes had 

 been stimulated by the Society, and tha was not 

 now necessary to go to Germany for them. 



Mr. Hastings Lees and Air. Masefield 

 again intimated their willingness to give lectures 

 for the benefit of the Society, and the offers of 

 Mr. C. E. Pike and Mr. F. W. Ashley in this 

 respect also hold good for the present season. 



The Work of Hon. Secretaries. 



The Hon. F. S. O'Grady said that a local secre- 

 tary of the Society was called on to face multi- 

 farious difficulties and perplexing problems, and he 

 would like to see more inter-communication among 

 them. He suggested that those living too far away 

 to be refreshed from the fountain-head at Hanover 

 Square should try to meet in their own neighbour- 

 hoods and form drawing-room meetings, which 

 might be made an excellent means for ventilating 

 the cause of the Society. On the subject of 

 plume-wearing he deprecated the wearing by 

 ladies of any feathers other than those of the 

 ostrich ; and he cons : dered secretaries should 

 set an example in this respect and be above 

 suspicion, as the use of so-called game and 

 poultry feathers was known to be a constant source 

 of deception and imposition. A circular letter 

 he had addressed to the hon. secretaries on the 

 matter showed that out of 68 who responded 41 

 were favourable to the suggestion and 27 against. 

 He admitted that it would be bad policy, if not 

 impossible, to alter the rules of the Society itself, 

 but he would go so far as to hope that the Society 

 might elect as secretaries only ladies who would 

 altogether refuse to countenance what was recog- 

 nised as a bad fashion. 



Miss Clifton, in an interesting paper, showed 

 what could be done in many and varied directions 

 by an active secretary, and her contribution to 

 this discussion will be published in full in the next 

 number of Bird Notes and News. 



The Chairman having briefly summed up the 

 several discussions, the Conference closed with a 

 cordial expression of thanks to the Ranee of 

 Sarawak, to the speakers and to Mr. Montagu 

 Sharpe. 



PLUME SALES. 



Hird-OF-Paradise skins and " Osprey " feathers 

 were again in large supply at the Commercial Sale- 

 rooms on October 16th, over 5,700 of the former 

 being catalogued and nearly all sold. Of Osprey 

 feathers there were 485 packages, described as 

 East Indian, Rangoon, Chinese, Venezuelan, 

 Brazilian, and Senegal ; " short selected " touched 

 as much as £8 per oz., " mixed heron " went as 

 low as 4^d. and 6£d. The miscellaneous bird- 

 skins were almost all South American. Forty 

 cases of quills included wing-quills of Pelicans, 

 Swans, Albatrosses, Eagles, Hawks, etc., and tail- 

 feathers of Buzzards and other birds-of-prey. 



At the sale on December nth, there were offered 

 about 3,600 Birds-of-Paradise, 265 packages of 

 Osprey feathers, and 5,278 wing-quills of various 

 birds. The miscellaneous skins, etc., included a 

 very large number of heads of the Crowned 

 Pigeon. 



BIRD AND TREE CHALLENGE 

 SHIELD COMPETITION. 



To the general question as to whether or no the 

 Bird and Tree Competitions organised by the 

 Society have tended to advance the cause of 

 Nature Study, and to develop among elementary 

 school children the power to observe intelligently 

 and correctly, there can be but one answer. In 

 every county the advance in the merit of the 

 essays sent in has been most marked, and it is an 

 advance entirely in the right direction, along the 

 lines of original and individual work. At first, as 

 was but natural, the teachers had to do almost 

 everything ; the papers were apt to be little but 

 reproductions of school lessons, good as far as 

 they went. Then the children became interested, 

 as in something that concerned them outside, as 

 well as inside, school walls ; and now there is in 

 many cases discernible not only interest but 

 enthusiasm, and though the teacher guides and 

 inspires, the boys and girls go about with their 

 own bright eyes and quick ears open, and their 

 fingers eager to make notes and drawings of what 

 is heard and seen. As a result some of the 

 essays, written in the fresh, natural, simple 

 language of young writers, who are full of their 

 subject and keen to talk about it, are really 

 charming and interesting productions. 



