64 



Bird Notes and News 



The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The Annual Meeting of the Society was 

 held on March 22nd, 1917, at the Middlesex 

 Guildhall, Westminster, by permission of 

 the Chairman of the County Council. The 

 Duchess of Portland, President of the 

 Society, presided, and was supported by 

 Mr. Montagu Sharpe, Chairman of Council ; 

 Lord Desborough, Brigadier-General Page 

 Croft, M.P., Sir John Cockburn, the Hon. 

 Mrs. Henniker, Dr. Drewitt, the Hon. Mrs. 

 Drewitt, Miss Hall, Mr. F. E. Lemon (Hon. 

 Secretary), Mrs. Lemon, and Mr. Meade- 

 Waldo, Members of the Council. Among 

 those who wrote regretting inability to be 

 present were : Mr. Ogilvie-Grant and Miss 

 Clifton, absent through illness ; the Countess 

 of Stamford, General Sir Robert Baden- 

 Powell, Mr. E. S. Montagu, M.P., Sir Herbert 

 Maxwell, Canon Vaughan, Major Hesketh 

 Prichard, Mr. E. N. Buxton, Mr. Harold 

 Hodge, Captain Eric Parker, Mr. D. T 

 Cowan, and Dr Bishop, the last-named 

 sending a special donation of £5 and adding . 



" I thinlc there was never more need of a 

 Society for the Protection of Birds than now, 

 when every crank seems to be allowed to 

 shriek in the newspapers and threaten the 

 slaughter of many beautiful and useful 

 birds. As a salmon and trout fisher of 

 many years' standing, I must protest against 

 the desire to exterminate the Heron and 

 aUied birds. The Society must be more 

 than ever watchful and fearful." 



General Baden Po\^ ell wrote : 



" I am very anxious to devise some sort 

 of award for kindness to animals and nature - 

 study in addition to the badges we already 

 give on these Mnes in the Boy Scout Move- 

 ment. But pressure of work, owing to 

 absence of most of our men on Service has 

 delayed my programme so far " 



The Duchess of Portland, in opening the 

 proceedings, drew special attention to the 

 importance of protecting birds as the farmers* 

 best friends, and to the Society's new leaflet 

 designed to give information on this subject. 

 Later on, in reference to a remonstrance 

 from one speaker against the caging of birds, 

 Her Grace expressed her hearty sj^mpathy 

 with the protest, and said she spent much 

 of her time and substance in buying and 

 freeing birds that had been caught and 

 caged. The Annual Report and Accounts 

 were adopted, on the motion of ]VIr. Sharpe, 

 seconded by Mr. Fleming Crooks, who 

 alluded to the temporary prohibition, which 

 should be made permanent, of the importa- 

 tion of wild birds' plumage and of live Quails. 

 The resolution was supported also by 

 Brigadier-General Page Croft, who remarked 

 that there was extraordinary ignorance in 

 this country \^ith regard to bird-life, and 

 much want of knowledge was shown in the 

 House of Commons bj' those who talked 

 about country matters, hut had never lived 

 in the country in their lives. 



Mr. Meade-Waldo proposed, and Sir John 

 Cockburn seconded, the follownig repolution, 

 which was carried unanimously, and it was 

 further agreed that a copy be sent to the 

 President of the Board of Agriculture : 



" That in view of imminent danger to 

 Food-Crops arising from Insect Plagues, 

 especially on newly turned-up land ; in view 

 also of the shortage of hand labour for deal- 

 ing with these pests, and of the fact that the 

 Bird is the one ever-present and ever-active 

 destroyer of injurious grub, weevil, and fly, 

 this Societj^ urges the imperative necessity 

 for full protection of Insect-eating Birds, 

 and emphatically protests against any re- 

 laxation of Close-time or other regulations 



