Bird Notes and News 



29 



where his country-home is situated, than 

 were fifteen years ago on the house itself. 

 Equally startling, he tells us, is the rapid 

 decrease of the Skylarks. Shooting " snobs " 

 are responsible for some Swallow destruction. 

 The restaurants devour many thousands of 

 both birds. Is there in France or Spain, as 

 in Italy, some organized slaughter on migra- 

 tion (suspected long before electricity could 

 have affected the question), and, if so, where 



does it take place ? 



H: * * 



This story of a Wagtail is sent by a cor- 

 respondent, who has no doubt often watched 

 these active and graceful little birds running 

 over the fields and laAvns and leaping lightly 

 into the air in quest of flies, and who has 

 listened to their quick " Chissick " and their 

 sweet warbled song : — 



" Herewith you will find a poor dead 

 Wagtail. I saw it in a cage at 's bird- 

 shop, a cage so narrow that it could not put 

 its tail straight. It had canary seed given 

 it to eat (the Wagtail feeds exclusively on 

 insects), and looked the most pathetic pic- 

 ture of misery it is possible to imagine. I 

 never buy caged birds, as I think it encourages 

 the trade, but I had to buy this starving 

 captive. Before I could get it to a quiet 

 place to release it, or could give it proper 

 food, it gave up its poor little life, one more 

 victim of this disgusting traffic which we 

 still allow in a Christian country. In the 

 same shop were two Blackbirds and a Thrush, 

 dying by the look of them, each in a cage 

 about 8 in. long, 6 in. wide, and not more 

 than 5 in. high. We talk about the 

 Italians ; I really think we are worse. They 

 do kill the birds ; we torture them." 



But has not the bird-eager proclaimed on 



the house-tops that he benevolently rescues 



wld-birds from " the cruelty of Nature " ? 

 * * * 



The Wildfowlers' Association, a body 



usually supposed to confine their attention 



to the subject they presumably understand, 



have been expressing regret and alarm that 



full protection should in some counties be 



given to the Lapwing, " a bird, in their 

 opinion, quite capable of taking care of 

 itself." The Wildfowlers are alarmed lest 

 " to raise this species to abnormal quantities 

 might bring serious evils." The " unrea- 

 sonable protection of the Starling and Sky- 

 lark " has, they think, " caused serious 

 suffering to many persons " (possibly to the 

 bird-trappers and snarers of Bedfordshire 

 and Cambridgeshire) ; and the enormous 

 numbers of roosting Starlings have, game- 

 keepers tell them, killed the trees thus 

 weighted. If the Lapwing, which at present 

 indeed feeds on insects, is protected in this 

 dreadful way, " there is no telling what it 

 may turn to attack " after it has " anni- 

 hilated " the useful worm. Who can say 

 that the power of imagination is lacking at 

 the present day ? Or can it simply be that 

 the Wildfowlers do not want to be deprived 



of the pleasure of shooting Lapwings ! 

 * * * 



The provision of water for birds to drink 



and to bathe in during dry weather, is now 



almost as well-recognized a dutj^ as is the 



provision of food in winter. If eveiyone 



cannot furnish his gardens with such ideal 



bird-baths as those from the Compton 



Potteries, shoAvn by I\Irs, G. F. Watts at the 



Chelsea Flower Show, it is easy to put out 



a pan or dish on Isiwn or flower-bed and 



keep it filled. A correspondent sends another 



hint : — 



" I hope that members of the Society who 

 have gardens, try to provide the birds wth 

 water during the summer. We prop our 

 garden hose (with the rose on it) on to the 

 hose-wheel, and let the water nm for a time 

 each day, placing it in the middle of the 

 Isivm, well away from bushes, where cats 

 could ambush, as they can catch the birds 

 so easily Avhen they are wet with bathing. 

 The birds drink and bathe in numbers, and 

 during the long drought last summer it was 

 a great boon to them." 



