16 



Bird Notes and News 



" The hosts of mice have brought in their train 

 an army of Kestrels and the smaller birds of prey. 

 The Sparrow-Hav'ks hunt the birds fiercely, but I 

 have never seen the Kestrel attempt to secure a 

 bird. These graceful little Hawks are always 

 quartering the ground seeking mice, and are 

 extremely fearless. The only time when they show 

 any alarm is when the earth over which they are 

 hovering goes up skywards in a sudden and 

 unexpected manner ; then the Kestrel departs in 

 a hurry. At other times they sit on the posts of 

 the wire entanglement and preen their feathers 

 with an air of total disregard of shells and snipers." 



" The ruined remains of moats surrounding some 

 of the Belgian towns are happy hunting-grounds 

 for the birds. Here one may find Blackcaps, 

 Reed , Garden- and many other Warblers, and 

 variovis Tits building in little companies, utterly 

 oblivious to the sound of guns. I heard of a 

 Blackcap building in a shell-shattered tree, which 

 was finally destroyed by another shell, but the 

 Blackcap only moved a few feet away and made 

 another nest in the next stump. I have found 

 the same thing happen with other birds. They 

 do not connect the sound of the gun or the explosion 

 of the shell with the ruin of their home." 



From a " War Area " nearer home (Ken- 

 sington) Miss Estella Canziani writes of the 

 behaviour of London Sparrows during an 

 air-raid. 



" One night last summer all our Sparrows began 

 to chirp, and I woke, thinking an air-raid must be 

 in progress. The dogs then howled, and I knew a 

 raid was coming, althoiigh no warning had then 

 been given. I went down for a young Pigeon, 

 which I had picked up deserted and had brought 

 up ' on the bottle,' so to speak. He is always 

 nervous, and was in a state of tension, legs and feet 

 quite rigid in my hand, and neck outstretched. 

 I sat by the open window, waiting and listening. 

 The Owls began to hoot, and the green Parrot 

 that lives w-ith the Pigeons in Kensington Gardens 

 screamed. A cat sitting in the middle of my garden 

 rushed into the bushes, and at the same moment a 

 Sparrow fell into the room as if stunned. The other 

 birds stopped chirping for a moment, and then 

 behind the trees everything was illuminated as the 

 first explosion occurred. A second or two after 

 came the sound of distant guns. 



" When the Sparrow recovered he flew on to the 

 mantelpiece, where he slept for the rest of the night, 

 flying straight out of the window at dawn when 

 the other birds began to twitter. My Pigeon 

 gradually relaxed, and before the sound of the 

 aircraft had died away he cuddled down into my 

 hand, and I knew that was the end of the raid, 

 even though I could still hear the gxma. 



" The first time I saw an air-machine was in 

 Rome the year before the war. It went over the 

 Forum, where I was sketching, and everywhere 

 the birds rose and flew towards it." 



Save the Food-crops. 



Save our Bird Allies. 



BIRDS, INSECTS & CROPS : 



A War-time Leaflet for all Growers 

 of the Nation's Food Supplies. 



Write for copies to the Secretary, Royal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds, 23, Queen Anne's Gate, 

 S.W. 1, 



Also published by the Society : "OUR ALLY 

 THE BIRD," Illustrated Leaflet, 9d. per dozen ; 

 " FARM, GARDEN, AND BIRDS '* : How to 

 protect crops without destruction of Bird-life ; 

 price Sixpence. 



Save the Birds ! 

 Save the Food-Crops ! 



" The best Crop Protector is the 

 Insectivorous Bird." 



C. GoRU«>N Hewitt, D.Sc. 



BIRD-ALLY 

 POSTCARDS 



QERIES of 12, each with quotation 

 as to value of Birds in Agricul- 

 ture, from Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, 

 Dr. Gordon Hewitt, Dr. Hornaday, 

 Sir Harry Johnston, Edward Newman, 

 M. Edmond Perrier, and others. 



Twelve Cards, assorted, 6d. ; 3 packets, 1 /3, 

 post free ; 1 00 Cards, 3/6. 



Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 



23, QUEEN ANNE'S GATE, S.W.I. 



BiBD Notes and News (issued quajterly) will 

 be sent post free to any address for Is. per annum, 

 payable in advance ; single numbers, 3d. 



To Members of the Society subscribing 5s. and 

 upwards per annum it is forwarded gratis and post 

 tree. 



Printed by Witherby & Co., 326, High Holborn, W.C 1., and 

 published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birus, 

 agj Queen Anne's Gate, S.VV.l- 



