12 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



IN THE COURTS. 



Shooting a Bittern.— At West MaUinr}, Kent, 

 in January, William Lewis Castle was convicted 

 of shooting a Bittern, a scheduled bird. He said he 

 did not know what bird it was, and had since sold 

 it to the owner of the land and it had been stuffed. 

 The Bench let him off with payment of costs only, 

 and the pm-chaser retains his illegally-gotten 

 specimen. 



BiRDCATCHiNG. — At Leicester, on March 12th, 

 Herbert Porteus and Wm. Eaton were convicted 

 of taking Linnets and of cruelty to decoy birds. 

 The police stated that both men w^ere experienced 

 catchers, and catchers were numerous round 

 Leicester. The birds were sold at about 3d. each, 

 but only one lived out of four or five which were 

 caught. Fined 40s. and costs each, the magistrates 

 observing that it was very deplorable they had 

 men in Leicester guilty of such cruelty. — At 

 Birmijigham, on March 16th, William Trigger was 

 fined 20s. and costs for cruelty to a decoy Lark. 

 The Chaimian of the Bench said that, apart from 

 cruelty, birdcatching was an abomination. — At 

 Worthing, on January 19th, Robert Hutchings was 

 fined 10s. for setting a net to catch Goldfinches. 

 He said he was after Greenfinches, but had a 

 decoy Goldfinch placed among thistles. 



Shooting Seabirds. — At Woolton, on March 4th, 

 William Thorpe was fined 5s. and costs for shooting 

 Sea-gulls on the Mersey shore, a protected area ; 

 and a warning was given that future cases would 

 not be so leniently dealt with. — At Portsmouth, 

 J. H. Murray Pollock was fined 5s. for shooting a 

 Gull at Cosham on March 4th. 



Birds in the Parks. — At Northampton, on 

 January 31, four boys were fined in amounts of 

 5s. or 2s. 6d. each for stoning a Moorhen in 

 Abington Park. The summons was taken out 

 because of the frequency with which the birds in 

 the parks were disturbed. 



Sunday Shooting. — At Loicesloft, Robert and 

 William Bly and Harry Barber were fined 8s. 6d. 

 each for shooting Lapwings at Bradwell on Sunday, 

 the 12th of Janviary. Notices of the Sunday Order 

 were posted at Bradwell village, but defendants 

 pleaded ignorance on the ground that tliey were on 

 the marshes a mile away. 



The Bird-dealers' Birds. — At Old Street 

 Police Court, on December 21st, two bird-dealers 

 named Preston and Flowers were convicted for illegal 

 .possession of wild birds, namely, 36 Larks and 72 

 Linnets from Barnwell, and 73 Linnets and two 

 Chaffinches from Saffron Walden. It was urged in 

 defence that the birds were not protected where they 

 were taken, but Mr. Biron upheld the contention of 

 the R.S.P.C. A. that the possession of them in London 

 was illegal, no matter where they came from. 



BIRD PROTECTION ORDERS. 



The following Bird Protection Orders have 

 been issued since January 1st, 1910 : — 



Cornwall. February 10th. E F. Pro- 

 tects Owls all the year, and eggs of Owls 

 and Chough. 



Oxfordshire. February 28th. E F. 

 Protects Kingfisher, Goldfinch, and Owls all 

 the year, and also their eggs. 



East Sussex. February 16th. A (e) B 

 C D E F S. Mainly a repetition of previous 

 Order with addition of two new breeding 

 areas, viz., the coast from Eastbourne to 

 Hastings, and from Hastings to Rye. 



Westmorland. January 5th. E. Ad- 

 ditions to Order of 1906. 



Yorkshire. West Riding. January 18th. 

 B C D E F S. Extends close time for Wood- 

 cock; otherwise as Order of 1908. 



Dublin. January 13th. E. Renews for 

 five years the Order of 1905. 



THE STORY OF THE 



In Seven Scenes. 



EGRET." 



With reproductions of Photographs taken 

 by Mr. Mattingley, of the Australasian 

 Ornithologists' Union; price 3d., by post 

 4d. ; mounted on art paper Is., post free. 



Arranged as a wall-sheet or placard, with 

 selected letterpress 3d., by post 4d. Mounted 

 on stout cardboard, ready for hanging, Is. 

 free. 



BIRD AND TREE ESSAY 

 COMPETITIONS. 

 The revised Rules and Regulations for the 

 Challenge Shield Competitions can now be 

 obtained from the Society, and include an 

 OPEN CLASS for Schools in Counties where 

 no Shield Competition is organized. 



Particulars from the Secretary, R.S.P.B., 

 23, Queen Anne's Gate, S.W. 



Bird Notes and News (issued quarterly) will 

 be sent post free to any address for Is. per annum, 

 payable in advance ; single numbers, 3d. 



To Members of the Society subscribing 5s. and 

 upwards per annxma it is forwarded gratis and post 

 free. 



Printed by Withekby & Co., 326, High Holborn, W.C, and 

 published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 

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