128 



Bird Notes and News 



NESTS OF WIRE 



LlEUT.-CoLONEL P. H. Kealy, R.E., writes 

 from Poona, India, that when visiting Ahmed- 

 nagar on a tour of inspection he found in 

 some empty barracks sixty-six Doves' nests 

 constructed entirely of binding wire, with 

 just a wad of soft material on top. The 

 barracks had been surrounded by barbed wire 

 during the war, and when it was removed the 

 binding wire was snipped off in lengths of 

 two or three inches and left lying on the ground. 



IN THE COURTS 



Birdcatcher's Cruelty — Exemplary Sen- 

 tence. — At Devizes, on October 3rd, David 

 Dunn, an employee of the Hackney Borough 

 Council, was convicted of the possession of two 

 recently caught Goldfinches and with cruelty 

 to a decoy Goldfinch and Linnet. It appeared 

 that Dunn was in the habit of visiting the hills 

 around the Cheverells annually to catch birds, 

 but in writing to explain his absence from the 

 Court he said he could not afford the fare to 

 Devizes. He regretted what he described as 

 " these unfortunate circumstances " and said 

 a conviction might injure him so far as his 

 employment was concerned. It was stated 

 that Dunn had a full bird-catching apparatus, 

 and the decoy birds were in a terrified and 

 exhausted condition. One was in a very 

 emaciated state and the other showed signs of 

 bad treatment ; the R.S.P.C.A. Inspector said 

 that to work them in the way described caused 

 great and unnecessary pain. The Chairman 

 said the case was the most disgusting and cruel 

 case they had had before them for many years, 

 and they fined defendant £10 on the charge of 

 cruelty and £1 in respect of each of the birds 

 in the other charge, the kit to be confiscated 

 and the birds liberated ; or a month's imprison- 

 ment. — At Lincoln, on September 14th, Albert 

 Ball was fined 25s. and 15s. costs for cruelty to 

 decoy Redpolls. 



The Dealer and the Birds. — At West Ham, 

 on November 18th, Albert Hodson was fined 

 20s. and 21s. costs for keeping 13 Linnets, a 

 Chaffinch, and two Redpolls in small and dirty 

 cages, the largest of these being 7J inches by 

 6| by 4| inches. Mr. Alex. Pearce, M.R.C.V.S., 

 said that 80 per cent, of birds kept in such 

 cages died. Defendant said he had asked the 

 legal sizes for various birds. (There is no 

 "legal size " for a cage.) — At Mortlake, on 



November 14th, Henry Warner was fined 40s., 

 or 21 days, for keeping a number of wild birds 

 in small cages and in a filthy condition. The 

 Chairman said that any future case would be 

 more severely dealt with. 



Birds for the Pot. — At Kingston, on 

 December 10th, Frederick Strong and Charles 

 Cooper, two young men, were fined £1 each for 

 cruelty. Stopped by the police they were 

 found to be carrying a Yellowhammer and 

 eight Thrushes in a sack ; Strong had six other 

 birds in his pockets, four being dead, and 

 Cooper was in possession of a catapult. They 

 said they took the birds to put in a pie. 



More Cases at Ainsdale. — At Southport, 

 on October 1st, Harold Jones and James 

 Hough were fined 10s. each for illegally taking 

 wild birds at Ainsdale, and a further 10s. for 

 trespassing in pursuit of game. The case was 

 proved by Wilfred Clarke, Watcher for the 

 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. — 

 In the same Court three brothers named Dews- 

 bury were fined 10s. each for trapping Linnets 

 at Ainsdale. This case also was proved by 

 Mr. Clarke. Defendants said they had been 

 catching birds for 25 years and had never been 

 charged before. (If the Southport Bench 

 would make up their minds to stop these 

 infringements of the law by a few drastic 

 sentences, they could no doubt soon put an 

 end to them.) 



THE BIRD AND TREE SCHEME 



Particulars of the R.S.P.B. Challenge Shield 



Competitions : suggestions for Nature- Study 



work in Elementary Schools, and Opinions of 



Education Authorities and Teachers. 



With Portrait of the late Mr. W. H. HUDSON. 



Price 6d., by post 7d. 



Free to Elementary School Teachers. 



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