Bird Notes and News 



109 



A Challenge Shield will be this year, for 

 the first time, presented to Lancashire. 



The Schools in general may be congratulated 

 on having met and overcome the many 



obstacles presented, in this time of national 

 anxiety, to the prosecution of Bird-and- 

 Tree work. It is a work that will bear good 

 fruit for the nation. 



Bird-Life on the Lake of Neuchatel 



By Mlle. Rachel de la Rive. 



Fob those who enjoy watching the varied 

 forms of bird-life which people a bit 

 of wild nature, the lake of Neuchatel 

 affords a fascinating hunting-ground. The 

 surroundings are beautiful and add to the 

 pleasure of the observer. Without possessing 

 the grandeur of mountain scenery the lake 

 has the colour and charm of a mountain 

 tarn. On one side, the steep pine-covered 

 slopes of the Jura are reflected in the green 

 water ; on the other, runs a line of wooded 

 cliffs fringed with alders and reeds, and 

 unbroken by any sign of human habitation 

 save the walls of a little grey old town. The 

 reeds continue to hold their own at the 

 north-eastern end of the lake, and here a 

 bird sanctuary has been established and 

 no shooting is allowed at any time of the 

 year. The result has already proved most 

 satisfactory. 



The lake of Neuchatel, besides possessing 

 many kinds of birds that spend the summer 

 on its shores, and some that live there all 

 the year round, lies on one of the routes of 

 the migrants, and a visit to the reservation 

 of La Sauge in the spring, when many winged 

 visitors stop for a rest on their way home- 

 wards, is extremely interesting. 



A stream, widened into a canal and joining 

 the lake of Morat to its bigger neighbour, 

 here winds slowly between flat meadows and 

 fields, drained and brought but lately under 



cultivation ; and as the small steamboat, 

 avoiding the shallows, makes its way towards 

 the mouth of the Borye, the beautiful Black 

 Tern with its delicate pointed wings glides 

 by, and the Common Tern is also seen in 

 the company of Gulls ; some are making their 

 way northwards, and some will spend the 

 summer fishing on the lake, the touch of 

 white they add to the landscape in calm 

 or stormy weather giving the beauty of the 

 far-away seashore to this inland water. 



Leaving the steam-boat at the quiet 

 landing-place, a few steps across a low-lying 

 meadow brings us to one of the only places 

 in Switzerland where the Lapwing nests, 

 and here, sure enough, are the cups in the 

 soil in which the eggs have lain. The young 

 birds have left the nests and the parents 

 are crying and swooping round us to draw 

 our attention away from their hiding places 

 in the grass and rushes. We sit down on a 

 great heap of sand that affords an excellent 

 post of observation and a wonderful sight 

 greets the eye. Ruffs, Greenshanks and 

 Redshanks, as well as Green Sandpipers, 

 are feeding along the shore, their delicate 

 greys and browns, just visible against the 

 sandy ooze, are so much the colour of their 

 surroundings that it takes several minutes for 

 the uninitiated to discover them. Suddenly 

 they rise together and wheel about before 

 alighting again, but our presence does not 



