Bird Notes and News 



41 



Miss Helen Tombleson, George E. Urry, S. J. 

 Vilisid, the Misses Walker, E. Ward, M.D., 

 John Watson, J. H. Wenham, George Whale, 

 F. Whittingham, K. H. Whitworth, Miss 

 Margaret Whyte, Miss Amy Williams, C. 

 Howard Willson, Miss Anna E. Wood, Miss L. 

 Wootton, Mrs. Wyllie. 



Life Members : Herbert M. Bucknall, 

 Lt.-Col. A. E. Sealey, Hon. Mrs. R. E. Vaughan- 

 Williams. 



Sir Mark Lemon Romer was elected a Vice- 

 President. 



The Chairman reported respecting the amend- 

 ment and probable introduction of the Wild 

 Birds Protection Bill ; and the Secretary on 

 her visit to Oxford during the Teachers' Rural 

 Science Course, and the lectures given on the 

 occasion by Mr. Masefield, to whom the thanks 

 of the Council were voted. A special Bird and 

 Tree Committee was appointed, to consist of 

 Sir Montagu Sharpe, Sir John Gockburn, 

 Mr. Hudson, Mr. Masefield, Mr. Bell, m. F. E. 

 Lemon, Mrs. Lemon, and Miss Gardiner, with 

 power to add to their number. 



Various other matters were considered ; and 

 on the motion of the Chairman, seconded by 

 Mr. Rudge Harding, a resolution was carried 

 deploring the recent wanton destruction of a 

 Heronry in Staffordshire during the breeding 

 season, and requesting the County Council to 

 give the bird and its eggs full protection. 



OBITUARY 



The Society shares in the great regret occa- 

 sioned throughout the Diocese of Winchester 

 by the death of Canon John Vaughan, who had 

 been a Local Hon. Secretary in Hants since 

 1905. Of his work and influence as a Church- 

 man this is not the place to speak, and in science 

 his passioL for botany came first, as evidenced 

 by his books on wild flowers ; but he was the 

 deeply sympathetic friend of all animals. 

 His knowledge of and afiection for the birds of 

 Hampshire — the Kestrels of the Cathedral 

 tower, the Owls and Warblers of the Cathedral 

 Close, and the many charming species of the 

 valleys and uplands he knew and loved so well 

 — were made evident in writings, sermons 

 and lectures. His articles about them were 

 well known to readers of the Times and other 

 publications. 



Living until recently in a venerable house 

 into wliich is built part of the " pilgrims' hall " 

 of Plantagenet days, his own garden was a 



paradise of both birds and flowers. An earnest 

 sympathiser in the work of the Society, he took 

 much interest in the Bird and Tree Competition 

 in the elementary schools. Canon Vaughan 

 preached in the Cathedral on " Animal Sunday " 

 (July 9th), with special reference to the Martin 

 Centenary, dwelling on the expression of 

 Christianity by love for " aU things both great 

 and small " ; but almost immediately after- 

 wards he was struck down, and never recovered 

 consciousness, dying the following day. He 

 was 67 years of age, and was a son of the 

 late Rev. Matthew Vaughan, of Finchingfield, 

 Essex. 



Mrs. Owen Visger, whose death at the age 

 of 80 occurred at Grange Park, Ealing, on 

 July 30th, and who was well known as part- 

 author of the many works published under the 

 signature of " A Son of the Marshes," was a 

 very old friend and worker in the cause of the 

 R.S.P.B., of which she became a member in 

 1894, joining the Committee early in the 

 following year. She was a hearty supporter 

 of the work, frequently gi\dng it the aid of 

 her pen ; and, as the Times remarks, " wrote 

 with a real knowledge and love of Nature which 

 must have inspired thousands of people with a 

 new enthusiasm for the observation and study 

 of the wild life of the country." Born in 

 Stafiordshire, she married, first, Mr. George 

 Newton Owen, who died in 1876, and, secondly, 

 Dr. Harman Visger. Mrs. Visger was a great 

 traveller, utilising her experiences in some of 

 her literary works ; and her later books on 

 natural history included " The Country Month 

 by Month," written in collaboration with the 

 late Prof. Boulger, and annotated by Lord 

 Lilford ; and " Birds Useful and Harmful," 

 which is a translation with additions and adapt- 

 ations of a volume by the Director of the 

 Hungarian Ornithological Bureau. 



WOMAN'S EXHIBITION 



The Society was among the exhibitors at the 

 Daily Express Woman's Exhibitiou at Olympia, 

 London, July 12th — 29th, 1922, occupying a 

 space in the gallery, where various other 

 societies, hospitals, etc., had stands. The stall 

 was made to look attractive by a display of 

 bird-pictures, including original water-colours 

 by Mr. Thornburn and other well-known 

 artists, on its walls, and by an exhibition of 

 lantern-slides and illustrated literature. In 

 the centre, specially railed, hung the beautiful 

 painting of " The Sorrowing Angel," by 



