Bird Notes and News 



81 



THE BOARD OF TBADE BILL 



The Second Reading of the Bill on June 14th 

 was supported by a consensus of opinion as 

 to the necessity for action. The Marquess 

 of Londonderry said that the present state of 

 affairs caused much damage to harbours, 

 docks and shipping, and seaside resorts, to 

 say nothing of fish life and bird life. The 

 Bill embodied an agreement come to by the 

 Board of Trade, the Ministry of Transport, 

 the Oil Companies, the Chamber of Shipping, 

 and the Dock and Harbour Association. 

 Lord Montagu of Beaulieu said the heavy 

 oil had spoilt the fishing ground of the Solent, 

 done harm to the yachting interest, and he 

 had seen forty swans killed by it. Lord 

 Southborough and Lord Mayo alluded to the 

 plight of holiday-makers and bathers on the 

 coast, as well as to the destruction of birds 

 and fishes. Lord Joicey said this was a first 



attempt to deal with a pressing matter ; 

 international arrangement would be needed 

 to get rid of the evil. 



Lord Somerleyton said this oil nuisance 

 at seaside resorts was greater than was known, 

 because they were the last people to mention 

 it to the public. If the Bill were passed it 

 would be a good measure for the seaside 

 resorts on the South and West of England, 

 from which he had had many letters asking 

 that the measure should be passed. With 

 regard to birds, they had had a letter from 

 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 which confirmed what had been said in the 

 earlier stages of the Bill as to hundreds of 

 birds covered with oil coming ashore on the 

 South of England. Great Britain was in a 

 position to show an example to other countries, 

 which he believed would follow that example, 

 and the Government hoped eventually to 

 reach some final international settlement. 



Economic Ornithology 



THE BARN OWL 



In recent numbers of the Journal of the 

 Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. W. E. Collinge 

 has summarised his investigations in regard to 

 the food of the Barn Owl and the Little Owl. 

 Comparatively few persons remain to be con- 

 vinced of the great utility of the former, 

 although it is still " potted " by the unenlight- 

 ened farmer and its corpse still appears on the 

 gibbet of the unenlightened keeper. Dr. 

 CoUinge's facts should carry conviction (either 

 in their own minds or in a Court of law) to 

 these few. 



" An analysis of the stomach contents shows 

 that the food consists entirely of animal 

 matter. Of the total bulk consumed 68*5 

 per cent, is composed of mice and voles, 9*5 

 per cent, of small birds (House-Sparrows, 

 Blackbirds, and Starlings), 7 '5 per cent, of 

 injurious insects, 9 per cent, of shrew mice, 

 4*5 of miscellaneous small birds, and 1 per cent, 

 of neutral insects. The enormous percentage 

 of mice and voles destroyed at once draws 

 attention to the benefit that this bird confers 

 on the farmer, and even if there is any truth in 

 the charges which have been brought against 

 it in recent years of occasionally taking young 

 game birds, the percentage of any such food 

 is infinitesimal when compared with the 

 remainder. It has frequently been pointed 

 out that when the Barn Owl is abroad seeking 



its food, all young game-birds are safe beneath 

 their mothers' wings. 



" In some districts farm vermin have in- 

 creased almost to the dimensions of a plague. 

 The pecuniary loss to the farmer and to the 

 nation generally can only be reckoned in millions 

 of pounds sterling. Surely it is not too much 

 to ask that the numerous agricultural societies 

 and farmers' clubs should interest themselves 

 in a matter so intimately related to their calling. 

 Much also might be done in our rural schools 

 to educate the rising generation on such 

 matters." 



[Included in the Bird and Tree Scheme of 

 the R.S.P.B., which teaches children to observe 

 for themselves the habits of wild birds, are 

 annual prizes for essays on any species of Owl, 

 instituted in memory of the late Captain Tailby.] 



" In the interests of farmers and the com- 

 munity in general it is certainly high time that 

 a species of wild bird of such great utility as 

 the Barn Owl should be most strictly preserved. 

 In spite of statements to the contrary both the 

 birds and their eggs are destroyed and this will 

 continue until much more severe penalties are 

 exacted." 



THE LITTLE OWL 



In dealing with the Little Owl, Dr. Collinge 

 is on more debated ground, the species being an 

 alien, introduced into England some thirty 



