BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



during the height of the breeding season — 

 even if the captivity were to be only 

 temporary and a prelude to release in the 

 Palace grounds, and even if the catching 

 were so contrived that it involved none of 

 the terror and death which smites so many of 

 the birdcatchers' victims, and no nestlings 

 a-dying ; granted all these conditions, it was 

 certainly not desirable that the law should 

 be strained merely to create a childish 

 spectacle copied from an Italian festa. 

 It is therefore satisfactory to have the 

 following assurance from Mr. Lascelles, the 

 master of the Pageant, addressed to the 

 R.S.P.B. :— 



" I am most glad to liave tho opportunity of 

 contradicting the statement that we purpose 

 catcliing and keeping in captivity large cjuantities 

 of birds for the purpose of releasing them during 

 the Pageant." 



THE BIRD SHOP. 



Birdcatchers and dealers are becoming 

 seriously alarmed by the activities of 

 Inspectors of the R.S.P.B. and the 

 R.S.P.C.A., and by the literal interpretation 

 of the law. A London magistrate recently 

 lield that the possession of newly taken wild 

 birds, the taking or possession of which is 

 illegal in London, is not made legal by the 

 birds having been caught in an unprotected 

 district. Tlic relaxation granted by the Act 

 of 1881 at the instance of game-dealers, 

 states that this excuse ma)' be valid in the 

 case of bu-ds recently " killed " ; it pointedly 

 omits mention of birds taken alive. The 

 trade propose to fight this decision. Caged 

 Birds sounds a call to arms for the purpose 

 of resisting the R.S.P.B., and issues this 

 touching placard : — • 



Danger ! 



They are trying to 



stop you 



keeping 



I-innets, Larks, 



and other pet birds. 



NOTES FROM ABROAD. 



Among interesting items relative to the 

 work of Bird Protection in other countries is 

 the news of an effort in Spain to make the 

 blinding of song-birds illegal ; everyone will 

 wish Senor Federico Wjnin success in such a 

 cause. In San Remo a similar effort is being 

 made by the Animal Protection Society, of 

 which Colonel Momber is Hon. Secretary, to 

 suppress the blinding of call- birds. The 

 custom in this case is illegal, but as offenders 

 can never be caught in the act, the Municipio 

 is being asked to jirohibit the sale, carrying 

 or exposing of blinded birds. — It is proposed 

 to introduce " Bird and Tree Day " into 

 France, more or less on the lines now fa- 

 miliarised in England. An interesting article 

 on Natural History versus History in the 

 Primary Schools appears in Le Chenil 

 (February 17th, 1910), describing the 

 R.S.P.B. methods, and pointing out that 

 nature-study fixes the children's attention on 

 things with which t\\ey are in daily contact and 

 which are not beyond their comprehension, 

 develops the faculty of observation, and 

 gives healthy food to curiosity. — At Brussels 

 a highly successful exhibition of birdless 

 millinery was held, February 19th-23rd, 

 under the auspices of La Ligue contre le port 

 des Plumes. The leading milliners were 

 represented. — In New York awards are being 

 offered for information of a nesting pair or 

 colony of Passenger Pigeons in the continent 

 of North America. Within living memory 

 these birds existed in millions. — Dr. Gordon 

 Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist (lately of 

 Manchester University), gave interesting 

 evidence before the Canadian Standing 

 Committee on Agriculture and Colonization 

 in December last, with reference to the 

 value of insectivorous birds. Professor 

 Hewitt's evidence has been published by the 

 Canadian Government. 



