Bird Notes and News 



23 



Bird-and-Tree (Arbor) Day. 



There is, unfortunately, no space available 

 in which to chronicle the very numerous 

 Festivals held in celebration of Bird-and- 

 Tree Day, 1913-14. The Woburn Boys' 

 School, winners for the second time of 

 the Inter-County Shield, were treated to 

 a cinematograph exhibition of the bird 

 pictures from the Scott Expedition, through 

 the kindness of the Duchess of Bedford, 

 and many pleasant fetes, entertainments, 

 and lectures, with tree-plantings, have taken 

 place. Others are yet to come. 



Cadets should now be at work for the 

 1914 Competition ; and all schools not 

 entered are invited to send for particulars 

 to the Secretary, Royal Society for the 

 Protection of Birds. 



Speaking at the annual meeting of the 

 Midland Re-afforesting Association, at 

 Birmingham, on March 9th, Sir Oliver 

 Lodge said that the most satisfactory 

 feature of the year's work was the school 

 planting, the interest taken by the educa- 

 tion authorities and teachers, and the 

 instruction and inspiration given to the 

 children to take care of trees and assist 

 in the planting. Tree-planting was a real 

 educational movement, for it was highly 

 desirable that the younger generation 

 should realise their responsibility as guardians 

 in trust of such things. Warwickshire, 

 where Sir Oliver was speaking, has a Bird- 

 and-Tree Challenge Shield. It would seem 

 that the Re-afforesting Association should 

 associate this with their work, the Bird 

 with the Tree. 



Special Prizes are offered by a member 

 of the Council of the Society for the best 

 essays on any one of the British Owls : the 

 Barn- or White Owl ; Brown, Wood-, or 

 Tawny Owl ; Long-eared Owl ; Short-eared 

 Owl — written by Bird and Tree Cadets. 

 The bird is to be selected by a cadet in 

 the usual way, and the essay should form 

 one of the three Bird essays sent in by 

 the school team. 



Personal observation is desired ; and the 

 competitor should say in what way the 

 bird is useful and why it should be pro- 

 tected. One kind of Owl should be chosen 

 for study, but size, colour, etc., may be 

 compared with those of other Owls. 



CHILDREN AND "BIRD- 

 NESTING." 



The wanton destruction of nests, and 

 the sometimes atrocious cruelty to young 

 birds by children, form one of the ugliest 

 features of English country life. The 

 following letter has been sent to teachers 

 of schools in the neighbourhood of his own 

 residence by the Rev. A. L. Hussey, and 

 the example is one which might well be 

 followed by every member of the R.S.P.B. 

 living in the country. The acts he mentions 

 are far from the worst that come to notice, 

 and it is well that the attention of teachers 

 should at least be called to this notorious 

 evil. If the police could be induced to 

 notice it also, so much the better : — 



"As a resident for some years in this 

 neighbourhood, as well as being a Vice- 

 President of the Royal Society for the 

 Protection of Birds, I venture to express 

 an earnest hope that the boys and girls 



