Bird Notes and News 



125 



Bird and Tree Challenge Shield Competition. 



AWARDS FOR 1923 



There has been a very considerable 

 advance made in the Bird and Tree Com- 

 petition, the number of Essays received 

 for 1923 showing a big majority over the 

 numbers of previous years. This is not 

 to say that every competing county has 

 excelled its former records ; several still 

 lag heavily behind ; but in general this 

 is the case, and a real effort seems to have 

 been made in several instances to attain 

 the pre-war standard. A larger number 

 of counties are also represented. Some of 

 these had been invited to enter Teams 

 with a view to the provision of a County 

 Shield if sufficient Schools competed, but 

 of these only one, Gloucestershire, has 

 risen to the opportunity. Kent and 

 Oxfordshire fail badly, in spite of ap- 

 proval from the county authorities and 

 of trouble taken to circularise the teachers. 

 The good result in Gloucestershire Schools 

 the Society owes to the interest taken in 

 the scheme by Mr. W. L. Mellersh, of 

 Cheltenham, an Hon. Secretary for the 

 R.S.P.B., and it illustrates once more the 

 value and necessity for personal interest 

 and ejffort on the part of Nature lovers in 

 the introduction of this valuable and most 

 successful form of Nature-study. 



Norfolk still stands at the head as 

 regards numbers, some 96 Teams taking 

 part. Here and throughout the Competi- 

 tion there is a marked increase in genuine 

 outdoor observation, given in the simple 

 and natural manner which the Judges 

 welcome. They have to deplore com- 

 paratively few instances of the carefully 

 written compositions devoid of first-hand 

 study and of the personal touch, which are 

 by some schools supposed to represent 

 "Nature" teaching. When these appear 

 they are difficult to appraise, since great 

 pains are frequently evident ; and though 

 no proof appears that the writer has even 

 seen the bird or tree described, it may be 

 in some cases that the spontaneity of the 

 natural child has been suppressed in order 

 to produce an impeccable " essay." In 

 one instance it is mentioned that a Cadet's 



paper was not sent in, though the writer 

 is a keen little observer, because it was 

 " untidy." It is earnestly hoped that 

 Local Committees and Judges will have 

 no regard to this point, for important as 

 neatness, spelling and grammar may be 

 they count as nothing in comparison with 

 real observation. The child's own dis- 

 coveries and impressions, set forth freely 

 and naturally, are wanted, no matter how 

 bald the composition, how eccentric the 

 spelling or how unorthodox the grammar. 

 The whole scheme of the Competition is 

 to foster the child's powers of observation, 

 original thought, and sympathetic feeling, 

 however crude the form. 



Similarly, it is possible that the 

 anxieties of Teachers and Local Judges 

 may on another point defeat their kindly 

 intent. From the multitude of papers 

 received dealing with the commonest 

 birds and with certain trees whose 

 characteristics are most readily noticed, 

 it seems likely that a detailed account of 

 a Thrush's nest or a description of the 

 " Christmas candles " and " conkers " of 

 the Horse Chestnut may give such papers 

 preference over shorter or more blundering 

 efforts to WTite of Curlew or Whinchat, 

 Spindle-tree or Dogwood. In the final 

 judging higher marks are always awarded 

 to those essays which show a desire and 

 effort to attain fresh knowledge and to 

 overcome difficulties by seeking out and 

 studying subjects novel and interesting to 

 the Cadet. The Judges notice a growing 

 tendency to neglect the rule of the Com- 

 petition which says that each of the bird 

 papers must deal with a different species. 

 In some cases this may be due to the 

 greater number of Cadets at work and to 

 a late substitution in the Team, but 

 where, for example, three papers are 

 written on one common bird and no 

 explanation is furnished, the only remedy 

 seems to be the disquahfication of the 

 Team. In a few cases also it is not clear 

 that all nine children have written two 

 essays, and this again is a very definite 

 requirement. 



