126 



Bird Notes and News 



Among the birds selected this year are 

 Buzzard, Pied Flycatcher and Stone 

 Curlew, which appear, so far as the Judges 

 remember, for the first time. Oddly 

 enough the most commonplace list comes 

 from a district swarming with many 

 varieties, while a pit village, where there 

 is stated to be " practically no natural 

 life," manages to write papers on such 

 birds as Dipper Stonechat and Wood- 

 pecker — studied at first-hand, too, to 

 judge from the papers sent in. The 

 papers on Trees bear witness to the 

 damage done throughout the countrj'- by 

 the late frosts last spring and to the 

 paucity of berries and nuts on the trees 

 and in the hedges this winter. 



The Judges for the Competition were : 

 Sir Montagu Sharpe, K.C., Mr. H. G. 

 Alexander, Miss Clifton, Mrs. Edward 

 Clodd, Mrs. Frederick Dawson, Mr. G. A. 

 Freeman, B.Sc, Rev. J. Clare Hudson, 

 Mr. J. R. B. Masefield, Rev. W. A. Shaw, 

 Rev. Julian G. Tuck, and Miss L. 

 Gardiner (Secretary). 



COUNTY CHALLENGE SHIELDS 

 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



Challenge Shield — Cuddington C.E. School 



Bucks, in contrast to other counties, makes no 

 special advance this year. There are some fresh 

 entrants, but these are almost counter-balanced by 

 schools which have dropped out. This is often due 

 to teachers moving to new schools and carrying their 

 enthusiasm with them, while their successors faU to 

 sustain even an established effort. There is nice work 

 from the county, if it does not quite come up to the 

 standard reached in pre-war days when zeal was 

 keenest, and the excellent variety of birds chosen is 

 noticeable. Last year's Shield-winner, Haversham 

 C.E., again does exceedingly well, the papers being 

 bright and natural, and it is by a veiy narrow margin 

 that the trophy goes to Cuddington. 



CUMBERLAND 



Challenge Shield — Nether Denton 



In awarding the Shield to Nether Denton the 

 Judges have specially considered the freshness and 

 originality of the observations and the simple and 

 natural wav in which they are related. This is the kind 

 of work which the Competition wishes to encourage. 

 There is a nice increase in the entries, and some of 

 the new Teams are very promising. St. John's Girls, 

 Keswick, have made a strenuous effort to retain the 

 lead, but their papers seem lacking in enthusiasm 

 for their subjects. 



GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



Challenge Shield — Slad C. School, Stroud. 



Considering that this is the first year of the Com- 

 petition, the Schools which responded to the in\atation 

 have done very well, most of the Teams having grasped 

 the intention of the scheme and betaken themselves 

 to the open-air for their studies. It is greatly to be 

 hoped that a much larger number will enter in 1924. 

 The Slad Essays are briglit and natural, and there is 

 individuality also in those from Tidenham, Eastleach 

 Martin, Great Rissington, Nympsfield, Redbrook, and 

 Thrupp. 



HAMPSHIRE 



Challenge Shield — Durley C.E. School 



It is pleasant to find Hampshire, one of the old 

 friends of the Competition but one which had fallen 

 off considerably of recent years, bucking up so well 

 this year and sending in many new Teams. There is 

 curiously little poor work from this county^ few indeed 

 of the bald spiritless papers which often mark first 

 efforts in other counties. Short and simple they may 

 sometimes be, but in all there appears genuine personal 

 interest. It is a hard matter to decide which of some 

 half-dozen Teams takes first place. Durley, however, 

 cannot be denied. It is closely followed by several 

 old Shield-winners — Ridge, the Boscombe Girls, 

 Headley and Barton Stacey. 



LANCASHIRE 



Challenge Shield — St. Mary's R.C., Bolton-le-Sands 



For several years there has been a heavy entry from 

 Lancashire, and this time it is pleasant to find the 

 number of schools still greater, and enthusiasm still 

 greater also. New burgh remams a Champion School 

 for 1923, but will be free to compete for its county 

 again in 1924, when other Teams will need to look to 

 their laurels. Cartmel Fell, holder of the Shield, again 

 does excellently, but on the whole the verdict favours 

 Bolton-le-Sands, where ardent effort has been made to 

 study uncommon species. As usual, Lancashire is 

 notable for the number of admirable essays written 

 without the use of notes, and for the freshness and 

 originality of the work. 



NORFOLK 



Challenge Shield — Bracon Ash and Hethel 



As in most counties, certain Schools come to the 

 front year after year, despite changes and additions 

 in competitors. Bracon Ash's papers are charmingly 

 enthusiastic, and those from Little Dunham and 

 Necton, both old Shield-winners, are full of personal 

 observation. A long list might be given of other 

 Schools sending in reaUy admirable work, though there 

 is too great a tendency to keep to well-known species 

 of birds. Postwick, St. Faith's Giils, Wroxall, North 

 Wootton, and a dozen other Teams gain the Certificate 

 of Excellence. 



NORTHAxMPTONSHIRE 



Challenge Shield — All Saints, Girls, Wellingborough 



]\Iarked progress continues to be made in the work 

 from this county, and the variety of subjects chosen 

 is in itself a proof oi quickening interest and increasing 

 knowledge. It is interesting to find the Kestrel one 

 of the birds most frequently dealt with in the essays 



