Bird Notes and News 



123 



winner of the Inter-County Shield last year, 

 is debarred ; one or two have fallen out. 

 The leading place is undoubtedly taken by 

 Coleshill, an old Shield- winner, whose earnest 

 and original work is evidently inspired by 

 an ardour and enthusiasm that sit very 

 prettily on the young writers. It is a mixed 

 team, but the papers sent are by girls, who 

 are much on a level in point of age and 

 knowledge. The Birds are Whitethroat, 

 Yellowhammer, and Moorhen, the Trees 

 Horse-Chestnut, Walnut, and Whitebeam, 

 all marked by careful study and a pleasant 

 style. It is obvious from several passages 

 that wild birds have none too happy a time 

 in the district, and that Bird-and-Tree work 

 is sorely needed. Other teachers in the 

 neighbourhood, please note. Ellesborough, 

 which always takes a high place, is as usual 

 noteworthy for keen observation, and the 

 Trees are admirably illustrated, but the Bird 

 papers suffer badly from the limited period 

 to which observation has been confined. 

 Princes Risborough, another competitor of 

 first rank, exhibits good and industrious note- 

 taking and its essays reach a high standard. 

 The Bird papers, if less learned, are lighter 

 and more attractive this year than those on 

 Trees. Tyringham-cum-Filgrave makes a 

 remarkable step forward, coming almost 

 suddenly right into the first class, the con- 

 spicuous feature of the work being its 

 originality. The children have been taught 

 how to observe, and then given freedom for 

 their own means and methods, with happy 

 results. From Pitstone, a new competitor, 

 come essays which, though shorter and less 

 advanced in study than those already named, 

 are pleasant and promising because the 

 children seem to have a genuine love for 

 birds and trees, and their writing is wholly 

 unaffected. 



CUMBERLAND. 



Challenge Shield. — St John's Girls' 

 School, Keswick. 

 Although the majority of the essays from 

 Cumberland are shorter and less detailed 

 than those from some other counties, they 

 deal with a larger proportion of the less 

 familiar birds — an admirable feature. The 

 holders of the Shield for 1914 and 1915, 

 St. John's Girls', Keswick, write on Tree- 

 creeper, Whitethroat, and Cormorant, all 

 watched carefully in their haunts ; and the 

 subjects of other essays from the county 

 include Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Curlew, Red- 

 start, Magpie, and Chiff chaff. Greystoke is, 

 as usual, to be congratulated on this score, 

 the Team having sought out several un- 

 common species and studied them with zeal ; 

 unluckily they suffered from the robbing of 

 nests, which put a stop to extended obser- 

 vation. Cargo has a capital paper on the 

 Magpie, and Kirkoswald has a particularly 

 good description of the Dipper. The winning 

 School furnishes three Teams, who have 

 among them watched twenty species of birds. 

 Their work is thoroughly good and enthu- 

 siastic, and is illustrated in the text with 

 admirable pen-and-ink drawings. Kirkos- 

 wald stands second, and two capital essays 

 on Pied Wagtail and Alder are perhaps better 

 than individual essays from Keswick. Cargo's 

 papers, from two Teams, are notable for 

 freshness and individuality. Buttermere, a 

 newcomer, should likewise soon become a 

 Team to be reckoned with, for here again 

 the cadets' pleasure in their work is indicated 

 by first-hand matter and a bright and 

 sympathetic style ; and the essays from 

 Nether Denton are also distinctly above the 

 average of first-year performances, being 

 genuine, simple, and straightforward, though 

 as yet too brief. 



