112 



Bird Notes and News 



Shooting in Close-time. — At Belford, 

 on August 27th, George Watson and Robert 

 Thompson Avere fined 17s. 6d. and 12s. 6d. 

 respectively for shooting a Curlew, a Shelduck 

 and a Golden Plover at Waren, near Bam- 

 burgh, on August 4th. The close-time is 

 extended to August 12th, and there had 

 been several complaints of shooting before 

 that date. 



Caged Lakks. — At Belfast, on July 7th, 

 Patrick Maguire was fined 10s. and 15s. 

 costs for having four young Larks in a cage 

 in the close-time. Tiiey were supplied with 

 potato for food, which they could not eat, 

 and with no water. 



The Birdshop. — At Leyton, on August 

 11th, Alfred Wood, of High-road, Leyton, 

 was fined £5 for cruelty to birds in his shop, 

 5, The Portway, West Ham. 



Taking a Golden Eagle. — ^At Inverary, 

 on August 11th, Angus Cameron, a head 

 gamekeeper, was charged with taking a 

 Golden Eagle, a scheduled bird, during the 

 close-season. It appeared that Mr. Tom 

 Speedy, an Edinburgh naturalist, asked 

 Cameron to get him specimens of the 

 birds in order that he might present them 

 to the Scottish Zoological Gardens, and 

 Cameron pleaded ignorance of the law. 

 Much was made of the point that there 

 was no " selfish motive " in taking the bird, 

 and that there was no fear of Golden Eagles 

 becoming extinct. Sheriff Penney said " it 

 did seem strange that a Golden Eagle could 

 not be obtained without a criminal breach 

 of the law," but dismissed the case with an 

 admonition. [He might well have had 

 something to say of a naturalist who asks 

 for birds to be obtained for him in the middle 

 of close-time, and a head keeper who pleads 

 ignorance of the Bird Protection Laws in 

 his own county.] " Meantime," asks the 

 Saturday Review, " w^hat has become of the 

 Eagle ? Has it been released, or is the 

 Edinburgh Zoo still unlawfully keeping it ? " 



The Bird-catcher's Decoy. — ^At East- 

 bourne, on September 1st, George Bradford 

 and Charles Sherwood, youths, were fined 

 10s. each for cruelty to a decoy bird. They 

 had nets set on the Crumbles, with a tethered 

 decoy Wheatear, and on catching sight of 

 the police snatched at the bird so that its 

 leg was pulled off and left fastened to the 



net. The Chairman said the offence was 

 a serious one and they were " liable " to 

 go to gaol for three months. 



Greeting Cards for 1913-14^ 



"CHIRRUP, CHEER-UP!" 



Four Designs, specially prepared and reproduced 

 in colour. Verse by Gr. F. Beauby. One card, post 

 free, 2d. ; one dozen, assorted, Is. 8d., post free. 



"OUR SWALLOWS' WINTER HOME." 



From the painting by Mr. Chables Whtmpeb, 

 E.I., with Calendar for 1914. One card 2d. ; one 

 dozen, Is. 6d., by post Is. 8d. 



" The Plume Question 



in a Nutshell.'^ 



Leaflet No. 70, summarising the facts as to 

 this trade. Reprinted, with additions, from 

 " Bird Notes and News." 3d. per doz. 



Price One Shilling, post free. 



FARM, GARDEN, and BIRDS: 



How to protect Corn, Fruit, and Vegetable 

 Crops without destruction of Bird-life. 



Prize-winning Essays, by E. Pumell Jones and E. J. Piatt, with 

 extracts frctn fapers by twenty-six ether Competitors. 



The subjects dealt with include : Scares and Scare- 

 crows ; Guns ; the Eook-boy ; Windmills and Kites j 

 Nets and Netting ; Protection of Fruit and Fruit-Bude ; 

 Protection of Seeds and Seedlings ; etc. 



THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR 

 THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS, 



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



BiBD Notes and News (issued quarterly) will 

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