Bird Notes and News 



57 



Bird-and-Tree (Arbor) Day. 



CHALLENGE SHIELD COMPETITION, 191 2. 



This year is the year of the Villages. In 

 1911 some of the principal winners were from 

 towns ; this time the town schools have 

 mainly to take a second place. It may be 

 said, indeed, that the chances are evidently 

 fairly equal for the large school, with its 

 greater choice of competitors, and the 

 country school, with its pastoral environ- 

 ment. Nor can it be urged that the 

 town competitors necessarily evince greater 

 quickness, nor that the country competitors 

 take advantage of a greater choice of Birds 

 and Trees to study. The alertness of 

 mind evidenced by children in some of the 

 most out-of-the-way villages is exhiHrating 

 to come across ; some of the town children 

 have gone forth and studied the least common 

 of Birds and Trees. It is regrettable that 

 the familiar Thrush, Blackbird, Starling, 

 Robin, and Skylark still occur with mono- 

 tonous frequency ; and that the Swallow, 

 Martin, and Cuckoo might be supposed 

 almost the only summer migrants. Wren, 

 Wagtail, Lapwing, Moor-hen, Tit, and Hedge- 

 Sparrow are also favourites. There is per- 

 haps one Jackdaw to twenty Rooks, and one 

 Greenfinch to ten Linnets and twenty 

 Chaffinches. Snipe, Great-crested Grebe, 

 Heron, Kestrel, Corncrake, Bam and Tawny 

 Owls, and Chiffchaff are some of the less- 

 known species represented. Among Trees, 

 Horse-Chestnut, Ash, and Oak still lead the 

 way ; but the choice is wider than might 

 have been expected. Wild shrubs like the 

 Spindle-tree, Wayfaring-tree, Dogwood and 

 Blackthorn are, however, neglected for those 

 like Pear and Plum, Lilac and Laburnum, 

 which are at hand in the garden. 



The judges were : Mr. Montagu Sharpe 

 (Chairman of Council), Rev. Juhan Tuck, 

 Mr. G. A. Freeman, B.Sc, Mr. W. H. Hudson, 

 Mr. T. Hastings Lees, Mr. J. R. B. Masefield, 

 Mrs. Fuller Maitland, Miss Clifton, and Miss 

 Gardiner. 



A short account of some of the Festivals 

 will, it is hoped, appear in the next number 

 of Bird Notes and News. 



INTER-COUNTY COMPETITION. 



Ten sets of Essays were entered for the 

 Inter-County, comprising the winners of the 

 County Shield, the Hampshire Champion 

 Team (Sholing Girls), and the Bucks Cham- 

 pion Team (Stony Stratford). The Shield 

 is well and deservedly won by the Wo bum 

 Boys Council School Team, who must be 

 congratulated on the manner in which they 

 have come so conspicuously to the fore. The 

 second place is taken by Stony Stratford 

 National School. Here all the work is full 

 of quick-eyed observation ; two essays, on 

 Rook (the best paper sent in on that bird) 

 and Wagtail, are exceptionally well-written, 

 while the seasonal changes of the Trees are 

 not only faithfully recorded but evidence 

 considerable sense of beauty. 



The Sholing Girls Council School takes 

 third place. The Sholing papers are all 

 interesting and pleasant to read, for the 

 girls have watched their Bird* and Trees 

 with keen and loving eyes ; they give a 

 good description of the songs, write well, 

 and show artistic appreciation of natural 

 beauty. Their work, excellent as it is, is 

 close-pressed by Mancetter (Warwickshire) 

 and ColtishaU (Norfolk). 



