Bird Notes and News 



about as big as a Jackdaw, and so on. Its 

 colours should be given as clearly as the 

 Competitor has been able to see them ; not 

 merely that it is a red and white and black 

 bird, but that its breast is red, its head and 

 throat black, and the band on its wings 

 white. Song and other notes should be 

 attentively listened for ; bird language is 

 not a thing to overlook. Nests should be 

 approached very cautiously, and care taken 

 not to leave any track by which nest- 

 robbers could find it. 



In Tree papers, comparative size should 

 be noticed ; whitethorn, birch, and hawthorn 

 are very different in height. An effort 

 should be made to discover the flower and 

 describe it as well as the nut or seed-box. 

 The character of the tree should be especially 

 observed — the features, that is, which make 

 it different from other trees and enable it 

 to be recognised. 



Interest is often added if a Cadet can choose 

 a Bird and Tree that have some natural 

 connection, such as Goldfinch and Apple- 

 tree, Goldcrest and Yew, Jay and Beech, 

 Treecreeper and Oak, and so on. One of 

 the Judges writes : 



" It would be interesting to notice (1) 

 the service rendered by the Tree to the Bird, 

 in providing nesting-stuff, shelter, food- 

 supplies ; (2) the service of the Bird to the 

 Tree, as destroyer of parasites and pests. 

 There is room for most useful study here. 

 The Apple-tree, for instance, is so beset with 

 foes that only a percentage of the frmt 

 comes to market perfectly sound and free 

 from insect-attack ; the grub of the sawfly 

 preys on the Larch and is kept under by 

 Tits and other small birds." 



School gardens give great opportunity 

 for similar notes. 



Another examiner of the Essays says : 

 " There is too much reliance on book 

 knowledge in some very good papers, and 

 it is difficult to be certain how much the 

 writers have learnt by heart instead of 

 observed. But certainly many old wives' 

 fables must have come from books, wliich so 

 often copy old wiiters and their glaring- 

 mistakes." 



On the other hand many boys and girls 



make capital observations, and show a quick 

 intelligence in noting such things as the 

 use of horse-chestnuts for munitions, of 

 herbs and flowers for making ointment for 

 wounds, the hme-flower tea made by 

 Belgians, etc. Records of kindness to and 

 affection for birds, and of feeding them, are 

 happily numerous and always interesting. 



Drawings are a feature of many sets of 

 Essays, and encouragement should be given 

 to notebook sketches. In the case of Birds 

 it is wiser to provide a good copy, as children 

 cannot draw from nature so elusive a creature 

 as a bird, though they can and do make 

 excellent drawings of the site of a nest or a 

 line of flight. Drawings, however, should 

 never take the place of accurate description 

 in the text. 



Botanical terminology and scientific details 

 of plumage are not desired ; and so far as 

 possible the essay should consist of the 

 child's own impressions and discoveries, 

 but the help and guidance and sympathy of 

 the Teacher is essential, especially in the 

 early stages of work, and encouragement 

 from parents and school managers is in- 

 valuable. Explanation of the parts and 

 growth of a Tree and the structure and habits 

 of Birds afford great help to youthful 

 students both in making their notes and in 

 the composition of Essays. 



SCHOOL CHILDREN AND BIRDS. 



" The cruel and prolonged winter took 

 heavy toll last year of birds which eat 

 insects noxious to agriculture, and these 

 have correspondingly increased. But it is 

 to be feared that there is another cause for 

 the decrease in the number of birds. Last 

 spring a Government Department appealed 

 to all to join in destrojdng sparrows. There 

 is no doubt that the appeal was misunder- 

 stood or misapplied. Numbers of other 

 birds are reported to have fallen ^^ctims to 

 a senseless and indiscriminate slaughter, and 

 village school children were often to blame. 

 From this we may learn several lessons, to lie 

 applied in all schools, and especiallj^ in rural 

 schools. First, the subject of Nature Study 

 may find a practical object in teaching 

 cliildrcn to distinguish one kind of bird from 

 another, by its appearance, its song, and its 

 habits. Next we should teach which birds 



