Bird Notes and News 



21 



BOY SCOUTS' COMPETITION. 



Probably normal times would have produced 

 a heavier list of entries for the prizes offered 

 by the R.S.P.B., through the Scout and 

 Headquarters Gazette, for Essays on Birds 

 by boy scouts ; and the papers indicate 

 that any real knowledge of birds and their 

 ways is confined to the few, even among 

 scouts. But a good number of papers came 

 in from north and south, town and country, 

 and many showed considerable promise. 

 An excellent variety of species were dealt 

 with. The principal awards are : 



Ages 15 to 18. — Eric C. H. Mansfield, Lisbury 

 Northumberland (Pheasant) ; Leonard Lee, Smeth- 

 wick (Thrush) ; Kearsley W. Bowden, Disley 

 (Bullfinch). 



Ages 12 to 15. — E. C. Wilkinson, Sunderland 

 (Blue-Tit) ; T. W. Davies, Llanidloes (Curlew and 

 Lapwing) ; T. Whalan, Greystoke (Swallow). 



Ages 8 to 12, — Edward Pickard, Barton-on- 

 Humber (Partridge) ; Vivian Selby, Burnley 

 (Jackdaw 'I. 



LEAFLET FUND. 



Mr. a. R. Lewis, of Longfield , wrote to the 

 Society in May last, offering to subscribe 

 five guineas to the Society's special Leaflet 

 Fund for the issue of " Birds, Insects and 

 Crops," and similar literature, if nine other 

 donors would give a like amount. The 

 Society has been able to realise this kind 

 offer by the generous help of the following 

 donors : the Duchess of Portland, the 

 Countess of Warwick, Lord Leverhulme, Mrs. 

 Holt Thomas, Miss R. Chichester, Miss F. 

 Cochrane, Mr. G. W. Hayes, Mr. A. R 

 Robinson, and Mr. Peveril Turnbull 



Birds in the War Area. 



IN EGYPT AND PALESTINE. 



Mr. C. L. Barrett, of Melbourne, whose 

 name is well-known to readers of Bird 

 Notes and News, writes from Egypt, June 

 28th, 1918 : 



" Bird Notes arid News has reached me from 

 my home in Australia, and I have read it with 

 great pleasure. T have always taken the keenest 

 interest in the work of the R.S.P.B., and am proud 

 of being an Honorary Member. 



" When with my vmit in Palestine, T was delighted 

 to find birds fairly plentiful. The valleys around 

 Jerusalem and Bethlehem, in early summer, were 

 not only glorious with wild flowers, they were 

 also tenanted by birds. Flycatchers, Warblers of 

 several species, Larks and many more. Out in 

 the hills near Jericho T saw large flocks of white 

 Storks, and often Egyptian Vultures, soaring high 

 in the blue. Riding over tho plains from Gaza 

 to Shellal, with my horse's nose almost brushing 

 the barley that covered the land like a vast 

 green carpet, I had the blithe notes of Crested 

 Larks ringing all the time in my ears. Palestine 

 is a land of Larks, little grey birds that sing on 

 the ground as well as up in the air. At a place 

 call«d Sheik Nuran, where we lived in ' bivvies,' 

 I made acquaintance with scores of White WagtaiLs 

 and also the lovely yellow-breasted species. They 

 came to glean in the camel lines, and were as 

 friendly as you like. T saw them again, in tho 

 Wady Ghuzze, tripping along the water's edge, as 

 happy as children at the sea-side. 



" Many species of birds are protected in this 

 country, notably Kites, Bufi-backed Herons, 

 Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, Larks, Warblers and Wheat- 



ears. In the mai2e and cotton fields one sees 

 Herons feeding close to the peasants or perched on 

 the broad backs of the buffaloes. In Giza Zoo- 

 logical Gardens there are, at the present time, 

 two large colonies of these beautiful birds, nesting 

 in banyan trees. Before the ' Buff-backs ' were 

 protected by law they were, I believe, the prey 

 of the plume-hunters." 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 



From Mr. H. Barringer come the following 

 notes contained in the letters of a friend 

 serving in Italy : 



Brentilla, Dec. 1917. Freezing hard, but bright 

 sunshine. 



15th. Many Wrens, Great Tits, Jays, Buzzards, 

 Grey Wagtails, and Kestrels seen ; also a pair of 

 Merlins mobbing a Buzzard. 



17th. Great "Tits, Stonechats, Buntings, Siskins, 

 and also a Cuckoo which, although the weather 

 was very cold, appeared to be catching insects. 



20th. Snow fell and most of the birds dis- 

 appeared, with exception of Robins, Tits and 

 Wagtails. 



24th. Fieldfares, Whinchats, Stonechats, Kestrels. 

 Ciano, January, 1918 : 



3rd. Little Ow!s, Buzzards, Jays, Magpies, 

 Stonechat?, Starlings, a Merlin. 



26th. Bramble-finches. Larks, Mistle-Thrushes, 

 Hawfinches, Waxwings. 



Feb. Green Woodpeckers, Chaffinches, and 

 in spite of the cold, Lizards and a Humming-bird 

 Hawk-moth. 



March. Birds as above, also Blackcaps and a 

 Bam Owl. Weather cold, but a Camberwell 

 Beauty, Fritillaries. and a Comma butterfly. 



