BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



47 



of observation and simplicity of style in the papers 

 from Barton Stacey, Meonstoke, Tadley, and 

 Awbridge. 



SOMERSET. 



Challenge Shield •. Yatton National School 

 (second year). Certificates of Excellence : Castle 

 Cary ; Clutton. Highly Commended : Exford. 

 Commended : Frome Boys' National School ; Old- 

 field Girls', Bath ; Long Ashton ; Dvtche School, 

 Bridgwater. 



Somerset made a capital start last year, and 

 another summer's study has still further advanced 

 the standard of merit. Yatton again wins brilliantly. 

 The young naturalists of this team display full and 

 accurate knowledge of their subjects, much of it 

 from personal observation, and they pi'esent it well 

 and lucidly. Had their essays not been so extra- 

 ordinarily clever the Castle Cary girls would have 

 won the Shield and won it well, their papers being 

 conspicuous for freshness and originality and con- 

 sequent charm of style. Clutton runs Castle Cary 

 hard, one essay in particular being remarkable for 

 a boy of eleven. Exford comes next in order, with 

 rather more of conventionality and rather less of 

 observation, but still exceptionally good. The 

 Frome boys have done very well, excellently in 

 their trees. They have noticed a good deal, of 

 plant life in particular, and their plant drawings are 

 beautiful work. The essays from Long Ashton are 

 well-written and pleasant to read. The Oldfield 

 girls have studied carefully, and only need a little 

 more field-work to gain a higher place ; the illustra- 

 tions are notably good. The Dytche scholars 

 make a first attempt both creditable and interesting, 

 especially when the ages of the competitors are 

 taken into account. 



WESTMORELAND. 



Certificate of Excellence : Beetham National 

 School. 



The Competition in Westmoreland, a county 

 with a comparatively small and scattered popula- 

 tion, has never been strong, and with the death of 

 Mr. Jackson of Warcop, it has dwindled down to 

 vanishing point. The Beetharn School, under Mr. 

 J.W. Pattynson which has worked well and patiently 

 each year, and only failed to win the Shield owing 

 to the exceptional excellence of Warcop, again 

 sends in papers, but the Council are reluctantly 

 forced to withdraw the Challenge Shield from the 

 county. This is the more regrettable because the 

 Bee'ham team show admirable powers of observa- 



tion, especially in their bird essays, coupled with 

 careful study, and it would have been pleasant to 

 see them take the first place in a good contest. 



BIRD-PROTECTION WORK IN THE 



SCHOOLS. 

 In various counties in England to which the Bird 

 and Tree scheme has not been yet extended, efforts 

 of a similar kind have been undertaken by influ- 

 ential residents, as, for instance, by the Duchess of 

 Somerset, who has established a Bird and Tree 

 Day at Maiden Bradley. 



In Scotland and Ireland, also, members of the 

 Society are doing much to promote Nature Study 

 in the schools. In Perthshire the Rev. John 

 Ferguson, B.D., of Aberdalgie, is doing splendid 

 work. Since September last he has addressed the 

 scholars of 26 schools (some of them twenty 

 miles from his own parish) on the cruelties of 

 bird-catching and caging and nest-robbing, and on 

 the value of birds to the farmer and gardener. 

 The children everywhere showed much interest 

 and intelligence, and their answers to questions 

 were generally accurate and sympathetic. At two 

 schools prizes were offered for the best essays on 

 the lines of the address given to them, a very 

 desirable form of encouragement to the scholars. 

 Mr. Ferguson hopes, by permission of School 

 Boards, to continue the work at other places ; and 

 it would be very welcome aid to the cause if bird- 

 lovers among clergymen and country gentlemen 

 would give similar addresses in other counties. 



Birds, their beauty and song, and their utility, are 

 an inspiring theme ; to inculcate the duty of pro- 

 tecting them is a natural sequel ; and the diffusion 

 of such knowledge must foster and encourage a 

 study and interest well fitted to brighten life for 

 dwellers in the country. To enlist the practical 

 help of teachers can but have the best results. 



In Ireland, the National School of Pettigo, co. 

 Donegal, is far ahead of most Irish Schools for 

 interest in bird-life, and recently a member of the 

 R S.P.B. (Mr. J. Leslie) gave well-deserved prizes 

 for essays to four of the scholars. Half the school 

 competed with papers endeavouring to point out 

 the benefits of bird-kind and the cruelties of 

 fashion. Locsl names of birds were also given. 

 The best points in the essays were descriptive of 

 Cuckoos and of the Wild Swans at Lough Erne, 

 and there is good hope that the study will be 

 extended to the many and rare birds of the neigh- 

 bourhood. 



