Bird Notes and News 



87 



Birds, Insects and Crops, 



An entire number of Bird Notes and News 

 could be filled with extracts from letters 

 received, and newspaper articles written 

 in sympathy with the Society's effort. 

 A few extracts must suffice, but it must be 

 added that practically every class of the 

 community has been represented, including 

 soldiers in service abroad and in hospital 



" The war against wild birds which is 

 being urged in many quarters is as reckless 

 and ignorant as it is brutal. . . . The 

 great majority of the birds of the British 

 Isles are largely, and majority are wholly, 

 insectivorous. They destroy the insects 

 which are the chief foes of our grain and 

 our green food. ... If it is pursued the 

 result is sure to be heavy damage to our 

 food supply." — Saturday Review. 



" The utter ineptitude of many of the 

 suggestions for destruction are obvious to 

 every one with even a rudimentary knowledge 

 of natural history. To reduce sparrows 

 where their numbers have become excessive 

 is a perfectly simple matter if the right 

 means are adopted ; to incite school children 

 to prey upon birds' nests is httle short of 

 criminal, and fails altogether in its object." 

 — Yorkshire Weekly Post. 



" So-called sparrow clubs are generally 

 devised in village taprooms to revive the 

 old cruel game. The S.P.C.A., if not the 

 S.P.C.C, should swell the chorus of protest." 

 —Globe. 



" It is difficult at any time to over-estimate 

 the true value of insectivorous birds in the 

 economy of Nature. . . . The Roj'al Society 

 for the Protection of Birds has affirmed the 

 necessity of preserving wild birds in the 

 interests of the nation's food, and a most 

 informative leaflet, issued by the society, 

 is available to all who desire reliable facts." — 

 Nottingham Guardian. 



" To what a pass we have come that 

 children are to be encouraged in acts of 

 cruelty in the name of economy ! Lord 

 Rhondda and Mi. Prothero had better 

 take heed that their campaign of slaughter 

 is not based on ignorance and prejudice " — 

 Welsh Gazette. 



" We agree with the Bishop of Swansea 



that it is not a wholesome thing for Education 

 Committees to become bodies for inciting 

 children to act as sparrow-executioners," — 

 Brecon and Radnor Express. 



" As a fruitgrower I know the value of 

 birds and should Uke a supply of your leaflets 

 to distribute." 



" I am a very keen gardener, and have 

 cultivated a large garden for some six 

 years, growing amongst other things, rasp- 

 berries, cherries, and peas, of each of which 

 the birds are very fond. I have, however, 

 always encouraged birds because I believe 

 they are good insect-destroyers, and I have 

 not suffered damage to my crops as I protect 

 those liable to attack." 



" As a keen amateur gardener and also as 

 an ornithologist, I entirely concur with 

 j'our letter and am of opinion it would do 

 a great deal of good if circulated to all 

 Elementary Schoolmasters." 



" I took j'our leaflet to a friend who re- 

 presents the Agricultural Council in this 

 district, and who promises to send twelve 

 to leading farmers, with a personal note to 

 each suggesting a letter to their ]\I.P.s and 

 also to the Board of Agriculture, to protest 

 against the indiscriminate destruction of 

 useful birds which will inevitably result 

 from the handing over of such a matter to 

 schoolchildren. The leaflet is badly needed 

 everywhere." 



" I have read with much thought your 

 letter in the Schoolmaster, and I fully endorse 

 your opinion that great care ought to be 

 taken in advocating the killing of any bird." 



" Your letter is most opportune and 

 deserving of most serious consideration." 



" The boys here are keenly interested in 

 birds, and I am anxious to check their 

 destructive energies. I beheve that know- 

 ledge is the best aid in this work, and this 

 is supplied in an excellent form in vour 

 leaflet." 



" The leaflet supplies me with just the 

 information I wanted, and I intend giving 

 a series of lessons to the upper Standards 

 in my school in connection with their 

 nature-study course." 



