Bird Notes and News 



87 



Lord Rothschild, on behalf of the British 

 Ornithologists' Union, has addressed a 

 letter to the Minister of the Interior 

 of Poland, protesting against the offer of 

 prizes to fishermen by the Board of 

 Fisheries of the Pomorska Izba Rolnicza 

 in Torum, for the heads of Kingfishers, 

 Herons, Ospreys, White and Black Storks, 

 GuUs, Common Divers, Great Divers, 

 and Bitterns. They especially draw 

 attention to the position of the Black 

 Stork, already so rare over the greater 

 part of Europe that it is only by special 

 protection their extermination has been 

 prevented : probably not more than four 

 or five pairs exist in Poland. A protest 

 from the B.O.U. against the killing of 

 rare species, even in another country, 

 should have weight, though it may be 

 feared that England, with her persecution 

 of Heron, Bittern, and Kingfisher by 

 angUng syndicates, and of every rare 

 species by collectors, is not so well 

 equipped as might be for the post of 



mentor. 



* * * 



The new Nature-Protection Law of 

 Finland, passed on February 23rd, 1923, 

 includes a clause for the suppression of 

 the Pole-Trap. This is the more satis- 

 factory from the fact that the Scan- 

 dinavian countries are closely linked in 

 their humanitarian work, and therefore 

 a similar enactment may be hoped for in 

 Norway, where this abominable device is 

 said to be largely used, chiefly, it is further 

 said, for the benefit of British sport. 

 The Finnish law has been obtained through 

 the exertions of the Animal-Protection 

 society, which has done much for the 

 birds of that country and has a very keen 

 and active president in ]\Irs. Constance 

 UUner, of Helsingfors. 



* * * 



A good deal has been written about the 

 value of the cinema in education, and of 

 its merits as a teacher of natural history. 

 The majority of people have their own 

 opinions as to the educational merits of 

 the ordinary cinema, and of its possi- 

 bihties. Two or three English lecturers 

 have demonstrated its fascinations where 



the film-taker was a genuine nature- 

 lover as well as a photographer ; the 

 names of Captain Oliver Pike, Captain 

 C. W. Knight, and Mr. Kearton at once 

 suggest themselves. But there is need for 

 infinite caution on the part of educational 

 enthusiasts before they accept a good 

 many pictures that are on the market. 

 In some the humane side of the matter is 

 conspicuous by absence. It is also well 

 to note where the film originated ; this 

 would save newspaper critics and cinema- 

 visitors from descanting on the knowledge 

 of British birds imparted to British 

 children by pictures of King-bird, FHcker, 

 and Wood Thrush ! 



The camera itself, so deUghtfully wel- 

 comed (possibly with more zeal than 

 discretion) as the saviour of the wild 

 birds, is liable to become their enemy, as 

 the Watchers' Committee of the Royal 

 Society for the Protection of Birds knows 

 only too weU. It is a thousand times 

 better than the gun : that goes without 

 saying ; but the ardour of the photo- 

 grapher to secure his picture is extremely 

 apt to override care for the safety of the 

 birds. Old birds are kept off the nest 

 until the eggs are chiUed or the young 

 perishing with cold and hunger. The 

 nests themselves are denuded of cover and 

 protection by the cutting away of foliage 

 and of branches to give an " exposure " 

 which may suit the man with the camera 

 but is fatal to the birds. Harm is not 

 intended ; but little heed is paid to the 

 fact that harm is done. A correspondent 

 of the Manchester Guardian, for instance, 

 WTites (May 31st, 1923) :— 



" The collector and the man -with a gun are not the 

 only enemies of the raptorial birds of the Lake District. 

 The photographer, too, unless he be as sympathetic 

 and understanding a naturalist as he is a skilful 

 cragsman and camera-man, is in a fair way to becoming 

 as accursed as the people who shoot at sight or take 

 rare birds' eggs to gratify their vanity or their lust 

 for pecuniary gain. A pair of peregrines, with the 

 first of the eggs laid on April 12th and with the clutch 

 completed on April 16th, were kept off their ejrrie for 

 two hours and deserted. The weather was bitterly 

 cold, and instinct told the birds that it was useless to 

 resume sitting. The attempt to photograph the eyrie 

 was a failure," 



Even worse cases have occurred, affecting 



