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Bird Notes and News 



The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 



ANNUAL MEETING 



Her Grace the Duchess of Portland, 

 President of the Society, presided at the 

 Annual Meeting, held (by permission of 

 the Middlesex County Authorities) at the 

 Guildhall, Westminster, on March 7th, 

 1923. There was a large attendance of 

 supporters of the work, including Sir 

 Montagu Sharpe, K.C., Chairman of the 

 Council ; Earl Buxton, Hon. Treasurer ; 

 Mr. F. E. Lemon, Hon. Secretary ; the 

 Duke of Rutland, K.G., the Countess of 

 Shaftesbury, Lord Lilford, Lord Des- 

 borough, Sir John Cockburn, the Hon. 

 Mrs. Dawtrey Drewitt, Miss C. V. Hall, 

 Mr. T. Hastings Lees, the Hon. and 

 Rev. Dr. Lyttelton, Sir William Portal, 

 Bart., and Mrs. R. W. Williamson, Vice- 

 Presidents, Mr. Meade-Waldo, Miss 

 Clifton, Mrs. Edward Clodd, Mr. J. 

 Rudge Harding, Mrs. P. E. Lemon, 

 and Mr. W. P. Py craft, Members of the 

 Council. 



Sir Montagu Sharpe, in moving the 

 adoption of the Report and Accounts, 

 reviewed the work of the year and alluded 

 to the great increase in the work and 

 business of the Society, and the extended 

 support it had received, as necessitating 

 the removal of the offices to more com- 

 modious quarters at 82, Victoria Street. 

 He drew attention to the inadequate 

 support given to the Watchers' Fund, and 

 in reference to the anticipated Bird 

 Protection Bill, to be introduced by the 

 Home Secretary, expressed the opinion 

 that taxidermists and sellers of wild birds' 

 eggs should be licensed and required to 

 keep a register of the skins and eggs they 

 received. Sir Montagu also spoke of the 

 heavy loss sustained by the Society in 

 the death of Mr. Hudson and of his 

 endowment of the Bird and Tree Scheme. 



The President, in seconding the resolu- 

 tion, also deplored the death of Mr. 

 Hudson, and believed it would have given 

 him pleasure if he could have known that 

 the memorial to him would take the form 

 of a Hudson Bird Sanctuary and Bird- 



Fountain. She had been greatly touched 

 to read that since the death of Robert 

 Louis Stevenson the Samoan chiefs had 

 forbidden the discharge of any gun within 

 earshot of Vailima lest the birds which 

 sing around his tomb should be frightened 

 and suspend their constant requiem. A 

 passage in the Report recording that 

 Skylarks were still offered for sale in 

 provision stores caused her grief and 

 indignation, but she was glad to say she 

 saw fewer than formerly at fashionable 

 entertainment s . 



The re-election of Her Grace as Presi- 

 dent was moved by the Duke of Rutland, 

 who said that English birds required more 

 protection to-day than ever before, 

 because so many areas were being covered 

 with houses, and some that were built 

 were hideous enough to keep every self- 

 respecting bird out of flying distance of 

 them. Lord Desborough seconded the 

 motion, which was enthusiastically 

 adopted. 



The election of Council and Officers, 

 moved by Lord Lilford, was seconded by 

 Dr. Lyttelton, who spoke especially of 

 the Society's work in the elementary 

 schools. He would not disguise the fact 

 that, as an old schoolmaster, he was at 

 first inclined to fear there was going to 

 be one more ill-judged experiment ; but 

 it had become evident that the Bird and 

 Tree Scheme was run by people who 

 understood teaching and were possessed 

 of skill and discretion. He recalled the 

 fact that some twenty years ago the 

 Board of Education proposed to encourage 

 an interest in and love of birds by pro- 

 viding every elementary school in the 

 kingdom with the feet of bullfinches, 

 the beaks of thrushes, and the wings of 

 other beautiful birds ; he at once wrote 

 an extremely tart letter to the Board, 

 and next day a revised edition of the 

 instruction was issued, and the feet of 

 bullfinches remained in their proper place. 

 Natural history, properly taught, and 

 music were doing more than any other 



