Bird Notes and News 



59 



Notes 



The Curator of the Santa Barbara " Museum 

 of Comparative Oology " (California) was not 

 pleased by the comments made on that quasi- 

 scientific institution, in the Illustrated London 

 News, by Mr. W. P. Pycraft, or with those in 

 Bird Notes and News (Autumn No., 1920). 

 They were indeed not made with the object of 

 pleasing him, but with the intention of letting 

 ornithologists and the public know something 

 of the egg-collecting mania as reflected in its 

 proposals. He is now possibly regretting the 

 virulence of his attack on Mr. Pycraft in the 

 museum's organ, seeing the reply it has induced 

 in the llluslraied London News of November 

 12th. His effort to inculpate the (British) 

 Natural History Museum, not to mention 

 the natural enemies of birds, as greater mis- 

 creants than " oologists," demonstrates 

 sufficiently the weakness of his case ; but the 

 most suggestive part of the tirade lies in the 

 following statement : 



" We regret that it does not appear wise just at 

 present to publish a full list either of contributions or 

 contributors. Some of our members have been 

 subjected to a senseless criticism on account of their 

 generosity, and others fear it. The upshot will 

 probably be that we shall have to conduct a certain 

 amount of our business behind closed doors." 



Is it by accident that a further admission 

 runs ? — 



" There is no denying either that some collectors 

 of birds' eggs have exhibited a wanton disregard not 

 only of the requirements of conservation, but of the 

 decent opinion of their fellow-men." 



Will closing the doors alter the opinion of 

 decent men ? 



Have any of the laborious watchers of the 

 Cuckoo yet recorded an egg laid in a nesting- 

 box ? Here is an interesting chronicle from 

 Mr. H. C. Playne, of Bancroft's School, Essex: 



" One afternoon in June I noticed a Cuckoo repeated- 

 ly flying about my garden ; and a few days afterwards 

 it occurred to me that it might have been a hen 

 looking for a nest in which to place an egg. So I 

 examined the nests in my garden, and, on June 22nd, 

 found a Robin in one of the boxes sitting on one of her 

 own eggs and a Cuckoo's egg. This was the Robin's 

 second nest. She had already reared one brood in 

 an old saucepan near the box. On June 29th I found 

 the young Cockoo had hatched ; and the Robin's 

 egg was lying just outside the box. The young Cuckoo 

 flourished exceedingly, and was as vicious a creature 

 as usual. . . . 'When I was feeling doubtful 

 whether it would be able to get out of the box, it 

 came outside and settled dowTi in some ivy just above 

 the box. Three days afterwards it disappeared with 

 the Robins, and I did not see it again." 



A lecturer who knows his subject and is con- 

 tent with facts, will usually find an interested 

 audience among those whose work takes them 

 more or less into the company of birds ; and 

 he may end by gaining agreement instead of 

 expected heckling, as was the experience of 

 Mr. C. H. Peppiette in lecturing before the 

 Walsall Gardeners last month. Frank acknow- 

 ledgment of damage by certain species in certain 

 cases led a leading member of the audience to 

 admit that the speaker had made out a clear 

 case for the birds in general ; and the Chairman, 

 in thanking both the lecturer for his address 

 and the K.S.P.B. for the slides, said that 

 many would now regard birds sympathetically 

 and with interest who before looked upon them 

 simply as a nuisance. Moreover, interesting 

 experiences were given, in one case of a flock 

 of House-Sparrows clearing brussels sprouts of 

 dusty blight after syringing had been given up 

 in despair ; in another of a Nightjar feeding its 

 young with " woolly bear " caterpillars, often 

 considered the perquisite of the Cuckoo. 



The R.S.P.B. has been invited to support the 

 work of a new '" Board of Applied Pestology " 

 — an appalling name which appears to represent 

 a successor to a recent " Vermin Repression 

 Society," which itself reincarnated a " society 

 for the destruction of agricultural and other 

 pests." The word " pest " having a somewhat 

 extensive meaning, and referring, according to 

 the dictionaries, to "a mischievous person or 

 thing," the reply to the invitation expressed 

 anxiety as to what particular pests the destruc- 

 tion or the " ology " proposed to deal with ; 

 they cannot imply, since in the circular the 

 word is coupled with, " vermin " and " rats." 

 The Chairman, has, however, published an 

 article on " Rats," in which he advocated the 

 extensive formation of rat-and-sparrow clubs, 

 suggested the exploiting of Sparrows, Starlings 

 and Bullfinches as articles of everyday diet 

 in order to diminish their numbers ; and 

 advised the promotion of " well-defined 

 sanctuaries " for •" Owls, the so-called Hedge 

 Sparrow, the Sparrow Hawk, Robins, and 

 insectivorous birds generally," with a commend- 

 ation of the example of Germany in " building 

 lofts for these birds on the outskirts of our 

 rural districts." The ornithology of the pesto- 

 logists seems to be as mixed as their etymology. 



