40 



Bird Notes and News 



eating anything else. My bird frequently used 

 to move the young ones to another patch of 

 bracken when the ground got sodden with 

 rain, and gradually, as they grew larger, she 

 moved them further and further away until 

 it was most difficult for me to find them, 

 and at last they disappeared altogether. 

 Before they disappeared I noticed that they 

 were exactly like their parents in colour and 

 form. 



The jarring noise of my bird is the peculiarity 

 from whence it gets its name, and something 

 resembles a thresher at work in lowering its 

 note at intervals. It keeps this up until quite 

 late at night. My male bird used to sit in his 

 little haunt and sing by night and sleep or 

 catch food in the daytime. Nightjars never 

 fly high but with swift undulating movements 

 over the bushes. 



I often saw the mother bird take a dust bath 

 in the lane near the nest. 



IN THE COURTS. 



The Shooting of Sea-Eagles. — At Ashford, on 

 March 8th, Henry West, keeper on the Surrenden 

 Dering Estate, Kent, was convicted of killing a Sea- 

 Eagle, and fined £1. In spite of the fact that the 

 specimen had been mounted for preservation by West's 

 employer and is of more value than the fine imposed, 

 no order was made for the forfeiture of the bird. 

 (The case was brought to the notice of the police by 

 the R.S.P.B., but months of correspondence were 

 required before the case could be brought into court 

 on account of the possessor of the bird refusing to let 

 it be seen and identified.) 



At Chapel-en-le- Frith, on March 31st, Ernest 

 Dearden, keeper to Lord Edmund Talbot at Derwent 

 Hall, Sheffield, was convicted of shooting a Sea-Eagle, 

 and fined £1 and costs, the bird to be forfeited and 

 sent to the Derby Museum. The prosecution was 

 conducted by Mr. V. R. Cockerton, on behalf of the 

 R.S.P.B. Defendant said he shot it because it was 

 destroying the grouse and ground game. The Eagle 

 measured seven feet from tip to tip of wings and was 

 three feet in length. 



BiRDCATCHiNG. — At Ealing, on January 9th, 

 Thomas Libiccio, of Lambeth, was fined 20s. for 

 catching birds at Perivale (a district in which there 

 is much complaint of Chaffinch-taking). 



At Woking, on February 12th, William Flaxten, of 

 Bethnal Green, was charged with causing unnecessary 

 suffering to five Chaffinches by carrying them in a 

 cage 11 by 5 by 4 inches. One was said to be unable 

 to fly and all in a distressed condition, and one died. 

 Defendant said he only used the cage for carrying 

 purposes and its small size prevented the birds from 

 dashing themselves about. The magistrates dismissed 

 the case. 



At Coleshill (Birmingham) three men were fined 5s. 

 each for taking Linnets at Castle Bromwich, and one 

 of them a further 5s. for cruelty to the decoy bird. 



Birds as Footballs. — At Brighton, on February 

 8th, George Brooker was sentenced to 14 days' hard 

 labour for cruelty to Willocks (Guillemots) by kicking 

 them into the sea, breaking their beaks and legs. 

 Defendant's father said his son had no sense of honour 

 or of cruelty. 



Following upon the article on the sale of 

 Larks and other song-birds in provision stores 

 in the last number of Bird Notes & News, 

 a special postcard asking the co-operation of 

 customers at these stores has been issued, and 

 it is hoped that full use will be made of it for the 

 purpose of checking, and finally stopping 

 entirely, this unpleasant practice. 



"The ringing chorus of a summer sky." 



SAVE THE SKYLARKS 



A Postcard Appeal to the Shopping Public against 

 the eating of Song-Birds. 3d. per doz. 



" The best Crop Protector is the 

 Insectivorous Bird." 



C. Gordon Hewitt, D.Sc. 



BIRD-ALLY POSTCARDS 



QERIES o{ 12, each with quotation as to 

 value of Birds in Agriculture, from 

 Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, Dr. Gordon 

 Hewitt, Dr. Hornaday, Sir Harry 

 Johnston, Edward Newman, M. 

 Edmond Perrier, and others. 



Twelve Cards, assorted, 6d. ; 3 packets, 1/3, 

 post free ; 100 Cards, 3/6. 



ABC OF COMMON BIRDS 



A pocket Guide to the commoner Inland Birds of Britain 



With short and simple descriptions from which 

 they may be identified by the unlearned ; their 

 local names ; and brief notes on the food they 

 eat that may be regarded as "pro" or "con" 

 the interests of husbandman and gardener. 



16mo. 64 pages. Price 6d., by post 7d. 

 fioyal Society for the Protection of Birds 



23, QUEEN ANNE'S GATE, S.W.I. 



BiKD Notes and News (issued quarterly) wil] 

 be sent post free to any address for Is. 6d. per annum, 

 payable in advance; single numbers, 4d. 



To Members of the Society subscribing 5s. and 

 upwards per annum it is forwarded gratis and post 

 free. 



Printed by Vaoher <fe Sons, Ltd., Westminster House, 

 S.W.I— 88387— and publiahed by the Koyal SocrBTY for 

 THM Pbotbotiow OF BIRDS, 23, Queen Anne's Gate. S.W.I. 



