54 



Bird Notes and News 



examination of its parts. The teaching of 

 a few simple botanical terms is a great help 

 to children in their descriptions, and an 

 outline of the fertilisation of flowers makes 

 it possible to understand the mystery 

 of catkins and the relation of flower 

 to fruit. A little study of seedlings and 

 their development is also valuable. 



Many of the essays bear, as usual, really 

 remarkable testimony to the quick observa- 

 tion, the patience, and the active intelligence 

 of boys and girls ranging in age from seven 

 to (in highly exceptional cases) 14. The 

 average age this year is about 11. Beyond 

 keen and persevering outdoor study there 

 is manifest not a little thought and reasoning 

 power ; and the multitude of pretty and 



interesting stories told of individual Birds 

 bear pleasant testimony to the happy feeling 

 for the feathered foUi which the Society 

 desires to instil. Writing and spelling are 

 excellent as a whole, and special mention 

 must be made of the admirable drawings 

 from nature which form a feature of many 

 of the papers. A special prize for artistic 

 work is awarded to John Hollingworth, of 

 Bedworth, by Mrs. Fuller Maitland. 



The Prizes for best papers on Owls go to 

 Tom Larcombe (Chillington) and Doris 

 Gregson (Heskin.) 



The Judges were : Mr. Montagu Sharps, 

 Rev. J. G. Tuck, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Hastings 

 Lees, Mr. Masefield, Mrs. Fuller Maitland, 

 Miss Clifton, and Miss Gardiner. 



INTER-COUNTY SHIELD. 



Winners of all the County Shields are 

 eligible for this premier trophy, and it goes 

 this year to Beechamwell C.E. School 

 (Norfolk), whose work shows a remarkable 

 amount of delightfully fresh and genuine 

 observation of nature. The birds are Night- 

 jar, Green Woodpecker, and Wagtail , the 

 trees. Sallow, Wych Elm, and Lime. 



The Second Place is taken by Newburgh 



C.E. School (Lancashire) for admirably close, 

 thoughtful, and interesting studies of Snipe, 

 Lapwing, and Yellowhammer, Sweet Chest- 

 nut, Beech, and Oak. The Snipe Essay is 

 individually one of the very best sent in 

 this year. The Third Place is assigned to 

 Leicester Road Council School, Bedworth 

 (Warwickshire), with whom may be brac- 

 keted the Frome girls (Somerset). 



COUNTY COMPETITIONS. 



BvcKmoKAMSUinF..— Challenge Shield : 

 Prince's Risboro' C.E. School. Papers full 

 of intelligence and sincerity, describing 

 prettily, Wagtail, Yellowhammer and Star- 

 ling, Acacia, Larch and J.ime. The Team 

 included a young Belgian refugee, who 

 eighteen months ago did not know a word of 

 English, and now writes it as well as most 

 Enghsh boys of his age. Coleshill, Elles- 

 borough, and Tyringham-cum-Filgrave gain 

 Certificates of Excellence, and special Com- 

 mendation is also given to Penn and Pitstone. 

 A pleasant ingenuousness and freshness, 

 with considerable grace of style, is character- 

 istic of Bucks Essays in general. 



Cumberland. — Challenge Shield : Butter- 

 mere. This is probably the very smallest 

 School in the year's list, but the papers are 



charming, and were written without notes. 

 They are also uncommonly well illustrated. 

 The subjects are Dipper, Hedge-Sparrow, 

 and Robin, Elm, Crab Apple, and Oak. The 

 Excellent award is won by St. John's Girls, 

 Keswick (3 teams), and Kirkoswald, and the 

 h.c. by Cargo and Nether Denton. Cumber- 

 land Teams distinguish themselves, as usual, 

 by a good and varied list of Birds (Keswick 

 has Sedge-Warbler, Corncrake, and Chiff- 

 chaff) and by originality of observation. 



Hampshiee. — Challenge Shield : Barton 

 Stacey. This is an unexpected triumph to 

 those who have not watched the steady 

 progress of this village school, but well- 

 deserved by genuine, simple, and prettily 

 written papers on Swallow, Greenfinch, and 

 Wren (with good note of its song). White- 



