38 



Bird Notes and News 



he thinks give hopes of cheaper and safer 

 flying for wingless man ; while Capt. Sayers, 

 though holding that an aeroplane can never 

 utilise the internal energy of the wind as birds 

 can do, considers that " with a competent pilot 

 and an intelligent study of the habits of soaring 

 birds, there is no practical doubt that soaring, 

 under favourable conditions, could be made a 



certainty," " Soaring Flight " is further dis- 

 cussed in a pamphlet by Colonel R. de Villamil, 

 late R.E., who claims to have found " a simple 

 mechanical solution of the problem." One 

 fact apparent is that the bird is the natural 

 mascot, leader, and ideal of airmen and should 

 find consistent friends and protectors in their 

 ranks. 



Bird and Tree Challenge Shield Competition 



Bird and Tree Festivals and the sending in of 

 entry-forms for this year's Competition have 

 been the events of the last three months. 

 Entries have come in well, and the number of 

 Cadets enrolled increases, a Birmingham School 

 holding the record at present with 120. 



Wereham (Norfolk), winner of the Inter- 

 County Shield, celebrated their success by a 

 performance of an operetta " Santa Claus is 

 Coming," to which a " real " Santa Claus with 

 presents for the children gave added point. 

 Encouraging addresses were given by Mr. H. A. 

 Day and Mr. Copeman, of the Education Com- 

 mittee, and the former presented the School 

 with a framed picture. Ellesborough (Bucks 

 Shield) had a pleasant gathering on March 4th. 

 Mancetter (Warwickshire Shield) had the benefit 

 of an interesting address on birds and trees in 

 India and the Far East from Colonel Heming, 

 the Shield and Prizes being presented by Mrs. 

 Heming. A collection taken for a war memorial 

 for old scholars realised £5 6s. Ridge (Hamp- 

 shire) will have its Day on April 15th, but a 

 preliminary Tree-planting and procession took 

 place on March 15th. Cartmel Fell had a 

 delightful afternoon and evening, winding up 

 with a dance in honour of the Headmaster's 

 silver wedding. At Boscombe Sir Daniel 

 Morris, K.C.M.G., presided, and the prize- 

 giving was supplemented by a presentation to 

 Miss Firbank, Headmistress, and a performance 

 of Mrs. Suckling's play, " Midsummer Eve." 

 Other festivals have been no less successful. 



The Competition, and education in general, 

 have lost a most able and sympathetic worker 

 through the death of Mr. T. A. Cox, Secretary 

 to the Norfolk Education Committee. Cordially 

 welcoming the introduction of the Bird and 

 Tree scheme in the county, Mr. Cox was 

 throughout a staunch advocate of this form 

 of Nature study ; and his untiring interest and 

 unfailing courtesy made co-operation in this 

 work a very pleasant thing to the representa- 



tives of the Royal Society for the Protection 

 of Birds. It is gratifying to know that his 

 successor, Mr. J. S. Davis, formerly Assistant 

 Secretary to the Committee, is an ardent 

 enthusiast in the study of nature, and was the 

 first to introduce systematic Nature study in 

 the Training Colleges, where its inculcation is 

 of such essential importance. 

 * * * 



THE NIGHTJAR. 



[This essay, by Freda Holland (14), of Ellesborough 

 School, Bucks, is chosen for publication as an example 

 of what girls and boys can learn by bird-watching, 

 not because it is absolutely the best paper received 

 in 1920, but because it is of more suitable length 

 than some others for reprinting, and deals with an 

 interesting species. Equally good essays were sent 

 by the Victoria School, Wellingborough, Ridge, 

 Wereham, Necton, Newburgh, and other Teams. 

 Its chief defect is the absence of dates.] 



I WAS walking through the bracken one evening 

 in the most dense part of the common, when a 

 large bird, which I took at first to be an Owl, 

 flew out of the bracken at my feet. I searched 

 about in the bushes and on the ground, but 

 could not find any nest, so I followed the bird 

 in order to see what it was. I had a difficult 

 task in following it through the large gorse 

 bushes and tall bracken, for it would often 

 disappear completely out of sight behind the 

 trees and I had no idea where to look. So I 

 kept perfectly still hoping that it might fly 

 by me, and before long I caught sight of it 

 flying low over the bushes with another similar 

 bird. I watched them for a long time swooping 

 and flitting about in the air, and on every 

 downward swoop they would utter a little 

 noise which sounded like " coee-ooee " and 

 something resembling the cry of an Owl. 

 One of them disappeared in the trees, but the 

 other settled in a little haunt of tall bracken, 

 tiny whitethorn bushes, and woodbine. In the 

 centre of this was a small ash-tree, and on this 

 the bird sat quietly, with his body horizontal 

 with the branch and crouching flat upon it, 



