50 



Bird Notes and News 



THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. 



A King's Regulation (No. 6 of 1914) 

 has been issued by the High Commis- 

 sioner for the Western Pacific, amending 

 the provisions in regard to the exportation 

 of birds and plumage from the British 

 Solomon Islands and the Gilbert and 

 Ellice Islands Protectorates. 



The new Regulation provides that 

 any person shall be guilty of an offence, 

 and liable to a penalty of £5, who 

 exports or attempts to export the skin 

 or plumage of any wild bird specified 

 in the schedule, issued from time to 

 time by the Resident Commissioner, 

 that may be killed, wounded, or taken 

 in the Protectorates. Any part of the 

 bird, and also the nest and eggs, are 

 included in the prohibition, and are 

 to be forfeited on conviction. 



BIRD PROTECTION IN SPAIN. 



The Society for the Protection of 

 Animals and Plants of Catalunya, which 

 has its central office in Barcelona, is 

 doing good work for the wild birds ; 

 and a recent number of its interesting 

 Bulletin contained an admirable article, 

 " En favor de las Aves," by Seiior 

 Emilio Tarre, who is also a member of 

 the R.S.P.B. In further allusion to the 

 subject, Seiior Tarre writes to the British 

 Society : — 



" At present I am seeking through this 

 Society for the Protection of Animals and 

 Plants to call the Government's attention 

 to the capture of birds by means of nets 

 on the Mountains of Asturias. The species 

 usually taken are the Chaffinch, Brambling, 

 Linnet, Goldfinch, Siskin, and the House- 

 Martin and Swallow. 



" The last two are protected by law ; the 

 other species may be taken from February 

 20th to September 1st. 



" The people generally have a regard for 

 the Swallows ; but there are many bird- 

 catchers who take them with nets for the 

 sake of their plumage. 



Spanish opinion in favour of bird- 

 protection cannot, as is the case in your 

 country, and in France, Germany, and else- 

 where, count on any deputies in the Cortes. 

 Our efforts are directed to the improvement 

 of the game-laws, with the idea that in this 

 way we may succeed in getting the use of 

 nets abolished: but we are not sanguine." 



The need for Seiior Tarre's efforts 

 is emphasised by a letter received by 

 the R.S.P.B. from an English lady, 

 who writes (June 6th, 1914) : — 



"Riding just lately over the Picos di 

 Europa in the Asturias, N.W. Spain, I found 

 on the tops of the lower l^ills innumerable 

 wattled hurdles, with pole's for stretching 

 nets between them. The peasants who 

 were with me made me understand that 

 these were for catching migrating birds. 

 This was obviously true, as the scattered 

 feathers showed only too sadly. To judge 

 from the number of hurdles, they must 

 catch thousands of birds. It would not be 

 worth while clambering up those hills for 

 less." 



BIRDS AND POETS. 

 To the several anthologies dealing with 

 birds — among which Dr. C. H. Poole's 

 "Treasury of Bird Song " is probably the 

 favourite — has now to be added The 

 Winged Anthology, compiled by Mrs. 

 Irene Osgood and Horace Wyndham (Lon- 

 don : J. Richmond, Ltd., 3s. 6d.). The 

 inclusion of butterflies and moths extends 

 the scope of the volume, but the greater 

 part of it, needless to say, is given up to the 

 feathered children of the air. The selection 

 shows the taste and discrimination so 

 essential in collections of this kind. The 

 more hackneyed bird-poems have been, as 

 far as possible, avoided, perhaps too rigor- 

 ously — even Shelley's "Skylark " being 

 abbreviated ; while among those included 

 are many charming poems and fragments 

 that are by no means familiar, and well 

 deserve to be enshrined in such a compila- 

 tion. An unusual number of living and 



