10 



Bird Notes and News 



will be followed in other districts, such as 

 Wimbledon Common, where Woodpeckers, 

 Nuthatches, Tree-creepers, and other hole- 

 building birds greatly need some substitute 

 for the old trees which once gave them 

 lodging. On many suburban commons 

 the breeding of birds has been made im- 

 possible through the constant inroads of 

 the public, while the cutting-up of estates 

 has destroyed adjoining garden and wood- 

 land ; but some species might still be 

 regained through the proper placing of 

 Nesting-boxes in small sanctuaries. The 

 provision of Nesting-boxes in spring, and 

 of food in time.^ of need, would do 

 much to attract the wild birds which 

 are so great a delight to townsfolk. 



Bird-lovers will be further interested 

 to know that Nesting-boxes will shortly 

 be met with not only in Paris, in German 

 and Swiss towns, and in London, but that 

 the Society's boxes have been introduced 

 into Rome through the initiative of Mr. 

 Collison. Thanks to the sympathetic 

 interest taken in bird preservation by 

 Dr. Boni, some of these are to be placed 

 on no less classic a site than the Virgilian 

 Garden — the Flora Vergiliana — on the 

 Palatine. 



"PROTECTION OF CROPS" 

 ESSAY COMPETITION. 



The Silver Medal and prizes offered by 

 the Society for the purpose of obtaining 

 the opinions and suggestions of practical 

 gardeners and farmers as to the best way 

 of protecting grain, fruit, and flowers 

 from the attacks of birds, without destroy- 

 ing the birds themselves, have been success- 

 ful in enlisting the interest and co-operation 

 of a number of competitors well qualified 

 by experience to write on the subject. 

 Essays were sent in by market-gardeners, 

 working gardeners, teachers in horti- 

 culture, and farmers in many districts, 



from Cornwall to Orkney and from Nor- 

 folk to Carmarthen. 



The judging was kindly undertaken 

 by Mr. G. L. Courthope, M.P., Mr. C. F. 

 Archibald, Lecturer in Agriculture, Leeds 

 University, and Dr. F. P. Haviland. 



The Silver Medal and five guineas are 

 awarded to E. Purnell Jones, Sherwin 

 Street, Crewe, who gave the pseudonym 

 " White Heather " ; and the second prize 

 of two guineas to Edwin James Piatt, 

 The Gardens, Borden Wood, Liphook 

 (" Balance "). Six competitors are highly 

 commended, in the order named : — 



N. Rooke, Lawn House, Risby ; F. J. 

 Lansdell, Inglewood Nursery, West Moors, 

 Dorset ; W. Mason, Halfway Cottages, 

 Tuddenham, near Ipswich ; G. Frisby, 

 Quorn, Loughborough ; John James, 

 Cromere Farm, Felinfach, Cardiganshire ; 

 T. B. Smith, The Yews, Hewelsfield, 

 St. Briavels. 



In giving judgment on the essays, 

 Mr. Courthope wrote : — 



" I consider the essay of ' White Heather ' 

 to have reached a very high standard. The 

 author shows a habit of trained observation, 

 developed to an exceptional degree, and 

 considerable knowledge and ingenuity in the 

 methods proposed. This essay also has a 

 distinct literary merit, and is rendered 

 attractive by very artistic illustrations. 



The Prize Essays, with extracts from 

 others containing especially useful advice 

 and comments, will be pubHshed in 

 pamphlet form by the Society. 



MUSEUMS AND BIRD PRO- 

 TECTION. 



Mr. Edmund Selous sends a second long 

 letter, for which it is unfortunately im- 

 possible to find room, on the subject of 

 Museums, apropos of the Society's recent 

 Reception at the Natural History Museum. 

 In it he says : — 



" Of course I have my own ideas as to 

 what a really enlightened museum should be. 



