>4 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



unconquerable, while their ignorance of the 

 law was blissful. — Mrs. Paterson (Mid- 

 Calder) wished some plan could be suggested 

 to prevent the wholesale destruction of eggs 

 and young birds during the nesting season by 

 boys and young men. In some neighbourhoods 

 not a single nest escaped, and the school- 

 masters and police seemed powerless. — Local 

 adoption of Bird and Tree Day offers a ready 

 method for carrying out some of this much- 

 needed work, and the provision of nesting 

 boxes and food-tables in school grounds and 

 public parks, as recommended by the Hon. 

 Gladys Graham-Murray (Perthshire), would 

 create interest on the part of the public, 

 young and old, and suggest to them the 

 regular feeding of birds in hard weather, as 

 urged by Mr. Carey (Perth). 



Miss Thornely (Liverpool) and Mrs. 

 Meredyth-Baker (Chichester) thought that 

 information as to the habits and food of birds 

 might be profitably supplied by H.L.S. to 

 local farmers, keepers, and gardeners, and 

 Mrs. Dixon-Davies (South Bucks) would like 

 to see co-operation with local horticultural 

 societies for lectures, etc. 



Bird Protection Orders. 



The need for specific amendment in the 

 Orders for various counties was brought 

 forward by Mr. H. C. Cooke (Aldborough). 

 Miss Gaskoin (Cambridge), and Dr. Toms 

 (Kent). — Mrs. Douglas (Forfar) urged further 

 protection of Plovers' eggs ; in Scotland at 

 any rate the bird was becoming scarcer every 

 year. The complexity of the Orders and the 

 extreme unattractiveness of the placards 

 also fell in for comment, though this is a 

 matter in which the Society can do little, 

 the posters being prepared and issued by the 

 County Councils. It has been suggested 

 that a simple leaflet pointing out the general 

 close-time protection of birds might be 

 usefully inserted in parish magazines ; the 

 Secretary would be pleased to hear from 

 H.L.S. and others as to whether they could 

 undertake the insertion of such a paper in 

 local publications. 



Bird Sanctuaries. 



Mr. W. Percival Westell (Garden City), 

 speaking on Bird Sanctuaries, ascribed the 

 abundance of birdlife which delighted him 

 at Letch worth, not only to the good spirit 

 which generally prevailed there, but also 

 to the paradise provided for birds on Norton 

 Common, a beautiful bit of wild country 

 seventy-eight acres in extent, where a keeper 

 guarded wild life. 



Mention was made of several private 

 Bird Sanctuaries, of which it is hoped to give 

 an account in future numbers of Bird Notes 

 and News. Miss Graham-Murray asked 

 " Could not the Society raise funds for the 

 establishment of sanctuaries in suitable 

 localities ? " The creation of Sanctuaries 

 was also strongly urged by Mr. Philip Oyler. 



Propagandist Work. 



The need for making the Society better- 

 known is a subject dwelt upon by many 

 Members, and Mrs. Care (Cardiff) emphasised 

 this point, writing : " The one topic I should 

 like discussed is the necessity for bringing the 

 Society before the public. So few people 

 in populous centres realise the great need 

 for such a union." — Miss Tate (Northumber- 

 land) asked the Conference to find some way 

 of interesting women in birdlife so that they 

 might perceive the barbarity of wearing 

 " osprey " plumes and sea-birds' wings. — 

 Miss Allanson-Winn and others considered 

 that a small badge for H.L.S. and Members 

 would be useful. 



The Conference had to be hurried to a close 

 to permit of an adjournment for tea, after 

 which a most interesting and entertaining 

 exhibition of living pictures of birdlife, 

 shown by the cinematograph, was generously 

 given by Mr. Oliver Pike, and greatly 

 appreciated. 



In an adjoining room were shown the 

 Society's publications and nesting-boxes, 

 and also a useful and attractive collection 

 of recent works on natural history, lent by 

 Messrs. Cassell, Longman, Macmillan, 

 Hutchinson, J. C. & E. C. Jack, Partridge 

 & Co., A. & C. Black, G. Bell & Sons, the 

 S.P.C.K., Religious Tract Society, Fisher 

 Unwin, Dent & Co., Seeley & Co. 





