Bird Notes and News 



15 



Bird and Tree Challenge Shield Competition 



The last three months have been a busy- 

 time in connection with the Competition, with 

 the holding of Bird and Tree Day celebrations, 

 and also the sending in of entry forms and lists 

 of Cadets for this year's Competition. There 

 are still, however, many schools which have not 

 sent in (as requested by the circular letter 

 addressed to all Competitors) the dates of their 

 Festivals, and others who are slack in for- 

 warding their entries. A little extension of 

 time is always allowed for lists, especially in 

 the case of new schools, and further time is 

 accordingly being granted to Surrey Schools, 

 which for the first time are now being offered 

 a Challenge Shield if entries are sufficiently 

 numerous. Delay is, however, to be regretted, 

 as the period for study is shortened and the 

 children do not obtain the cards and hints 

 from the Society which so materially help 

 them at the start. 



OPEN-AIR NATURE STUDY 



In a circular letter addressed to the senior 

 schools of Norfolk, Mr. J. S. Davis, the Educa- 

 tion Secretary for the county, writes : — 



" There is perhaps no subject of the Ele- 

 mentary School curriculum which is so capable 

 of fostering the spirit of thinking and inquiring 

 as Nature Study— a study of Nature and 

 Nature really and properly studied. The study 

 of Birds and Trees as required by the Bird and 

 Tree Scheme stimulates curiosity and per- 

 ception, helps to form the habit of observation, 

 and quickens the reasoning powers. 



" As soon as Nature is taught from the book 

 and the blackboard it ceases to be real Nature 

 study. Nature is out-of-doors, and to study 

 Nature one must go into Nature's great labora- 

 tory — out of doors. Without carrying cor- 

 relation to any absurd extent, the fact that 

 Nature Study is so closely associated with 

 other school work should not be lost sight of. 

 It is correlated with and helps in the study of 

 drawing, painting, and composition (both oral 

 and written), literature, music, and mathe- 

 matics. 



" The feelings of comradeship and good 

 fellowship are also fostered. The teacher 

 assumes his true function, namely, that of 

 director or superintendent. He learns with 



his pupils, he judiciously guides their observa- 

 tions, he no longer tells them this and shows 

 them that. 



" For the sake of your children in whom you 

 wish to foster this spirit of thinking and inquiry, 

 will you not consider whether the Bird and Tree 

 scheme can be adopted in your school ? Do not 

 regard it as merely a Competition. Do not 

 compare your school with others and think 

 you are handicapped. All you want is enthu- 

 siasm, and you may be astonished at the extent 

 to which the study may develop in your school, 

 even if it be a small school." 



There are, needless to say, other reasons for 

 the study than those touched on by Mr. Davis 

 in addressing teachers. If work on the land 

 is to be pursued with intelligence, the present 

 abysmal ignorance of the economic place of 

 birds must be grappled with in country schools. 

 If callous brutality and stupid destruction are 

 to be checked for humanity's sake, boys and 

 girls must personally learn to know and observe 

 the ways and lives and songs of birds. Ob- 

 servation means interest, interest sympathy, 

 sympathy protection. 



BIRD AND TREE SCHEME IN 

 LANCASHIRE 



Mr. G. H. Gater, Director of Education for 

 Lancashire, was among the speakers at the 

 annualmeeting of the R.S.P.B.onFebruary 21st, 

 when considerable reference was made by the 

 Duchess of Portland and Sir Montagu Sharpe 

 to the value of the scheme. Mr. Gater em- 

 phasised the importance of securing the co- 

 operation of local Education Authorities in the 

 promotion of the Competition. The Lancashire 

 Education Committee appreciated it to the full ; 

 they were whole-heartedly behind the scheme, 

 and were doing their utmost to encourage it. 

 They were proud of the fact that one of their 

 schools had won the Inter-County Shield for 

 1921-22. They would Hke the competition 

 to be introduced into every one of their schools, 

 because they were convinced that, not only 

 from the point of view of the Society, but also 

 from the point of view of education, this was 

 the proper way to conduct Nature Study. 

 This year the Lancashire Authority had cir- 

 cularised the managers of their 700 schools, 

 urging them to take up this work ; at the same 



