Notes & News 



ISSUED QUARTERLY BY THE ROYAL SOCIETY 

 FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Vol. IX.] 



SPRING, 1921. 



[No. 5. 



Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The 30th Annual Meeting of the Society, held 

 at the Middlesex Guildhall (by courtesy of the 

 Middlesex County Council) on March 8th, 1921, 

 had for Chairman Earl Buxton, newly returned 

 from the Governor-Generalship of South Africa, 

 who has been a member of the Society since 

 1894, and its Hon. Treasurer since 1901. F.-M. 

 Lord Methuen, G.C.M.G., who was to have 

 presided, was prevented by illness, and wrote : — 



" I cannot tell you how vexed I am to fail you. 

 . . . I had longed to say how much Malta owes to 

 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for what 

 it has done for the birds there. . . . There was 

 much opposition to the Bill introduced by the Govern- 

 ment, but it was passed and the result reached my best 

 expectations." 



The President of the Society, the Duchess of 

 Portland, wrote regretting her absence from 

 town and giving assurance of her continued 

 sympathy with its work and her constantly 

 deepening conviction of the importance of its 

 propaganda ; referring especially to the keeping 

 of small birds in cages without adequate space, 

 light or air. 



Viscount Grey of Falloden, K.G., also unable 

 to be present, wrote of his sympathy with the 

 Society's object and work : 



" An interest in the life of wild birds and the observa- 

 tion of them is one of the most wholesome and satisfying 

 of human pleasures to those who are fortunate enough 

 to have an inclination for it. And the preservation of 

 all but thQiVery few species that are really injurious and 

 sufficiently numerous to do mischief, is a most desirable 

 object. I wish the Society all success in its efforts to 

 preserve birds generally, and rare species in particular 

 in our own country, and to promote legislation such as 

 the Plumage Bill, in order to protect beautiful species 

 abroad from becoming rare and finally extinct. 



The more civilisation and trade advance and 

 spread the more need is there for care and effort to 

 prevent the natural beauty and amenity of the world 

 being impoverished bj' the destruction of harmless and 

 attractive bird life." 



Mr. Montagu Sharpe, K.C., Chairman of the 



Council, was also unable to be present through 

 illness. 



There was a large attendance of members and 

 friends. The Annual Report was introduced 

 by Mr. Frank E. Lemon, Hon. Secretary, and 

 adopted on the motion of Lord Buxton, who 

 spoke of the pleasure it gave him, after seven 

 years' absence, that his first appearance on a 

 public platform should be as Chairman and 

 speaker for this Society. Referring to the 

 Plumage Bill, he commented on the cry of the 

 fancy-feather dealers that the ostrich-feather 

 trade would be involved ; this he did not believe 

 for a moment, the two businesses being on a 

 totally different basis. The seconder of the 

 Resolution was Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, 

 G.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., who dealt with Bird- 

 Protection in Egypt, and with the relation 

 between a dearth of birds and plagues of insect 

 pests, instancing especially the costly ravages of 

 the cotton- worm, formerly destroyed by Egrets, 

 which had been killed for the feather market. 

 The re-election of the President of the Society 

 was proposed by Lord Buxton and seconded 

 by Mr. Meade Waldo. 



The election of Council and Ofl&cers for the 

 year was submitted by Sir Sidney Harmer, 

 D.Sc, F.R.S., who dealt with the great need 

 for general education as regards bird and 

 animal life, and the value of public museums in 

 this connection, citing particularly the exhibits 

 at the Natural History Museum illustrating the 

 life history of birds and those calling attention 

 to their economic importance. Sir William 

 Portal, F.S.A., who seconded the motion, had 

 the full sympathy of the audience in his 

 appreciation of the English hedgerow, and 

 spoke also of the Society's Bird and Tree 

 Competitions. 



Two other Resolutions were also carried 

 amid applause. The first, proposed by the 



