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Bird Notes and News 



"It is also said, in this country, that insect 

 ravages cannot be controlled by birds, and 

 chemical remedies must be used. Of course 

 they cannot. Does any sensible man expect 

 to run his business satisfactorily after dismissing 

 ninety per cent, of his workpeople ? But 

 give the birds their former status, and then 

 see what they can do. America saw its sin 

 in this respect long ago, and at once came to 

 the penitent form, and immediately began to 

 take steps to redress the evil. But England, 

 as a country, has not yet seen its sin, and such 

 half-hearted laws as have been passed have only 

 been obtained after years of struggle and 

 delay, and are very largely totally disregarded." 



SOME BIRD FRIENDS 



In the garden of the house where I happen 

 to be writing this a pair of Great Tits have a 

 family of young in an old pan. As we sit at 

 meals, in full and close view of the pan outside, 

 the comings and goings of the parent birds 

 make a spectacle that threatens to become 

 monotonous. Once or twice we have timed 

 the birds, finding that food is brought to the 

 nest about 150 times each hour — more than 

 2,000 separate visits during the birds' working 

 day of 16 hours. So far as one can see, a 

 single caterpillar is brought each time. These 



grubs are the larvae of one of the geometer 

 moths, a noticeable pest on the neighbouring 

 trees. If we assume that each parent carries 

 the caterpillar no more than twenty yards, 

 this means exactly one hundred miles flight 

 in a day. . . . Beyond the garden, in a 

 hole in a small elm, another pair of Blue Tits 

 are rearing a crowd of young. Their feeding 

 habits are slightly different from those of the 

 Great Tits. To-day the Blue Tits have been 

 working the oaks, which are already showing 

 distinct signs of the ravages of geometer 

 caterpillars. The Great Tit carries single oater- 

 j)illars, but I notice that the Blue Tit hops and 

 flits about the twigs until it has secured a 

 dozen or so small caterpillars. These (by the 

 look of things as we watch the nest) are shared 

 out amongst the brood. Working in this way 

 the Blue Tit does not visit the nest so often ; 

 we coimted about 15 in ten minutes — say, 

 about 90 visits each hour. 



Looking up from my paper, I see a Goldcrest 

 gathering tiny insects in the branches of a 

 pine tree. This bird, like the Blue Tit, fills 

 its mouth with flies before returning to the nest ; 

 and last night we watched a pair of Tree Pipits 

 collecting, mouthfuls at a time, the big crane 

 flies now so conspicuous in the fields. — F. J. 

 Stubbs, in the Oldham Chronicle, June 2nd, 1923. 



Bird and Tree Challenge Shield Competition 



The Judges in the Bird and Tree Com- 

 petition have a busy time before them, 

 the number of Teams entering showing, 

 as anticipated, a considerable increase 

 this year. Norfolk still takes the lead 

 in point of numbers, and contributes 

 some six hundred essays. The results 

 will be made known and reports sent 

 to all the competing Schools at as early 

 a date as possible. 



ROADSIDE TREE PLANTING 



In the House of Commons in July, 

 Col. Ashley (Parliamentary Secretary, 

 Ministry of Transport) informed Viscount 

 Curzon that he fully shared the desire 

 that roadside tree planting should be 

 extended in suitable cases and as far as 

 funds permitted. For some time he had 

 been in consultation with an expert as 

 to the species to adopt. In the case of 

 the new great west road he had already 



agreed on a tree-planting scheme with 

 the Middlesex County Council. Sir C. 

 Yate asked whether roadsides could be 

 planted with apple trees, as in France 

 and Germany. Col. Ashley : " Can Sir 

 C. Yate assure me that the apples will 

 not be stolen ? " (Laughter). 



Laughter is easily evoked in the House, 

 but, after all, the public would not be 

 much worse if the apples were taken 

 than if they had never been there, even 

 if it is to be believed or granted that 

 English children are of necessity greater 

 thieves, as well as more essentially 

 nest-destroyers, than those of other 

 countries. The Bird and Tree Competi- 

 tion has amply shown that all depends 

 upon the way in which the child is 

 taught. Plant the trees on Bird and 

 Tree Day, place them under the care of 

 Bird and Tree Cadets of the neighbour- 

 hood, and see if some fruit is not left to 



