BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



49 



It was difficult to decide to which of the three 

 schools first-named the Shield should be awarded, 

 but the high level of excellence reached by Grey- 

 stoke's careful and accurate essays won the day. 

 Greystoke also won the Shield in 190G. Last year's 

 winner, Kirkoswold, sends in some notably good 

 work ; and the Morland and Newby School (geo- 

 graphically in Westmoreland) came very near to 

 carrying the Shield out of its own county, by reason 

 of the naturalness and spontaneity of the papers. 

 The Essays from both the Keswick teams are full 

 of promise ; with a continuance of the observant 

 work which makes this year's papers so much better 

 than last year's, the St. John's Girls should 

 appropriately secure the Shield designed by Mrs. 

 Rawnsley and fashioned at Keswick. Good work 

 comes also from two Cargo teams, who owe much, 

 even too much, to the careful and kindly teaching 

 evidently given here. 



HAMPSHIRE. 



Challenge Shield : Havant Council School. 

 Second Prize : Sandown Boys' National School. 

 Third Prize : St. Peter's Girls' School, Bournemouth. 

 Certificates of Excellence : Privett ; Bitterne Park 

 Girls ; Western School, Southampton (Boys) ; 

 Sandown Girls' National ; Boldre ; the Holme 

 School, Headley ; Laverstoke C.E. Highly 



Commended ; Hayling Boys ; Ridge, Romsey ; 

 Burghfield (Berks) ; Newchurch, I.W. ; Penning- 

 ton ; Copythorne ; Romsey C.E. (Girls) ; Romsey 

 C.E. (Boys). Commended : Barton Stacey ; 

 Hinton Ampner ; Kingsley ; Meonstoke ; Aw- 

 bridge ; Wickham. 



In Hampshire the competition is closer than 

 ever. The general level reached is undoubtedly 

 higher than used to be the case, and some half-dozen 

 or more teams have made a long step forward. 

 Havant, always a good team, wins the Shield 

 with a workmanlike set of papers, showing most 

 diligent study. The Sandown Boys follow up past 

 successes mainly through the excellence of their 

 Tree papers. The Bournemouth Girls' essays are 

 rather thin, but sincere and appreciative, and show 

 a power to describe as well as to enumerate the 

 characteristics of their Birds and Trees. The Bit- 

 terne Girls are almost on a par with their Bourne- 

 mouth sisters, and one paper is better than those of 

 the prizewinners ; they are younger, however, 

 and have not quite found themselves, and their 

 writing is rather laboured. The Sandown Girls 

 drop from their former place because, while the Tree 

 papers are admirable, those on Birds derive too 

 much from books. The Privett Team, holders of 

 the Inter-County Shield for 1907, also drop behind 

 a pace for want of the thoroughness that charac- 



terized their previous efforts. They have poked 

 about industriously, but without sufficient method 

 or sympathy ; the Tree papers are still first-rate. 



It is scarcely possible to indicate the exact 

 position taken by the remaining schooLs. In some 

 cases there are capital individual essays, such as the 

 careful study of the Lesser Whitethroat sent in 

 from Boldre ; the Swallow and Skylark, written 

 of so prettily by Ridge essayists that six essays as 

 good would have given this little school a very high 

 place ; the capital paper on the Sandpiper from 

 Headley ; the graphic description of the Lapwing 

 from Copythorne. In others an amazing amount 

 of information has been got together from many 

 sources, as is conspicuously the case with the 

 lengthy papers from the Western (Southampton) 

 School. In others again, the whole team reaches a 

 high standard, with genuine observation well 

 expressed, as in those of Headley and Laverstoke, 

 of Hayling, Romsey (Boys and Girls), Burghfield, 

 Pennington, and Newchurch. 



NORFOLK. 



Challenge Shield : Bracon Ash and Hethel 

 School. Certificates of Excellence : Mileham ; 

 Downham ; Fakenham ; Postwick ; Sporle ; 

 Bressingham ; Coltishall ; Wimbotsham ; Wor- 

 stead ; Attleboro' Girls' ; Wroxham. 



That the Competition in Norfolk was well 

 organized by the Education Committee is proved 

 by the keen competition among 49 Schools for the 

 Shield, and the fact that no fewer than 66 took up 

 the work. That the invitation was well responded 

 to is further proved by the excellent character of 

 the essays sent in. The Society gives the Shield, 

 together with Certificates to eleven schools, and 

 Medals to eighteen essayists in various schools 

 who gained the highest marks for their essays. All 

 other awards are given by the County authorities, 

 great interest in the new departure being taken 

 by the Education Secretary and Assistant Secretary, 

 by the Rev. E. H. Daubeny, and by Mr. Lee-Warner, 

 who gave special prizes for good descriptions of 

 bird-song. It is evident that teachers and children 

 also took up the idea with zest. The papers 

 generally are well done, and in a very large majority 

 of cases there are indications of personal observa- 

 tion and out-of-door note-taking. They are not 

 so full and conmlete as a good deal of the work 

 which comes from counties with three or four years' 

 experience ; but for a first year they reach a high 

 standard. The essays from Bracon Ash are full of 

 bright intelligence, and written in a pleasant 

 natural manner. There are other teams that show 

 more knowledge, ornithological and botanical, bu 

 are without the same indications of originality in 



