Bird Notes and News 



23 



Bird-and-Tree (Arbor Day) Competitions. 



BIRDS AND ANTS. 



Writing in the National Review (June, 1916) 

 on " Life in a Pinewood," Mr. W. H. Hudson 

 discusses the question, " How do small birds 

 safeguard their tender helpless fledglings 

 from the ants ? " 



" I have said to myself a hundred times 

 that birds, especially the small woodland 

 species that nest on or near the ground, 

 such as the Nightingale, Robiti, Wren, 

 Chiffchaff, Wood and Willow Wrens, and 

 Tits that breed low down in old stumps, 

 must occasionally have their nestlings de- 

 stroyed by ants ; yet I have never found a 

 nest showing plainly that such an accident 

 had occurred, nor had I seen anything on 

 the subject in books about birds ; and of 

 such books I had read hundreds. 



" The subject was in my mind when I 

 received evidence from an unexpected quarter 

 that tender fledglings are sometimes de- 

 stroyed by ants. This was in an accomit 

 of the Wren by a boy wliich I came upon in 

 a bimdle of Bird-and-Tree Competition 

 essays from village schools in Lancashire, 

 sent on to me to read and judge from the 

 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

 The boy stated in his essay that having 

 selected the Wren as his subject he watched 

 the birds and looked for nests ; that among 

 the nests he found one containing five eggs, 

 and that four young were hatched but were 

 destroyed the same day by ants. I wi'ote 

 to the master of the school, at Newbiu-gh, 

 near Wigan, and to the boy. Hairy South- 

 worth, asking for full particulars. The 

 master's reply gave a satisfactory accoiuit 

 of Harry as a keen and careful observer, 

 and Harry's answer was that the nest was 

 built in a small hole in a bank beside a 

 brook, that he had kept his eye on it during 

 the time the bird was sitting on her five 

 eggs, that on his last visit he found the parent 

 bird in a terrified state outside the nest, 

 and that on examination he found fom: 

 young birds had been hatched, and were 

 all dead but still warm, and swarming with 



small reddish-brown ants which were feeding 

 on them. 



" This goes to show that not only do ants 

 sometimes attack the fledglings in the nest, 

 but also that the parent birds in such cases 

 are powerless to save their young from 

 destruction. My conclusion was that small 

 ground-nesting birds have an instinctive 

 fear of ants and avoid building at places 

 uifested by them." 



All the adverse circumstances of the War 

 notwithstanding, the Elementary Schools 

 have again entered well for the Competition. 

 It is feared that not a few may lose, as 

 some lost last year, masters invaluable in 

 guiding and teaching the children ; but the 

 influence left must inspire the Team to give 

 a good accomit of themselves to the absent 

 teacher and counsellor on his return. 



Bird-and-Tree Day, far from being the 

 set celebration it is by official appointment 

 in the United States, occurs at any and all 

 times of the year in Schools adopting the 

 R.S.P.B. scheme ; and a large number of 

 Festivals have taken place during the first 

 haK of 1916. Quieter than in happier 

 times, they have served to stimulate the 

 Cadets and to give point and interest to the 

 presentation of medals and awards and 

 the reading of essaj^s. 



Wobum Boys' School, third in the Inter- 

 County Competition, received book prizes and 

 medals, on April 13th, from the hands of 

 the Duchess of Bedford, who also gave four 

 special prizes. 



IVIiddleton School, winners of the Warwick- 

 shire Shield, combined Empire Day and 

 Bird Day. After an interesting address 

 from the Vicar, and songs and recita- 

 tions by the children, the headmaster 

 (]Mr. Hopkins) took the Team for a trip to 

 Birmingham, where a long visit was paid 



