BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



45 



Thought flies from tliis picture of birds and 

 sunshine and scarlet berries to that pathetic 

 one drawn by Mr. Hudson in The Land's 

 End, of starving little birds hiding in the 

 hedges from the bitter cold until they drop 



from their perches to die. " Not one of 

 them is forgotten before God," ue are 

 pleased to believe. But they are not 

 always remembered by the Christmas 

 decorators. 



UcT 



Bird and Tree (Arbor) Day. 



UcT 



INTERIM WORK IN THE SCHOOLS. 

 Several lines of work distinct from the customary 

 Bird and Tree watching were suggested to schools 

 in order to maintain interest in Nature Study 

 during the Ijlank season necessarily'' occurring 

 between the dates of the 1909 and the 1910-11 

 Challenge Shield Competitions. 



In one class — a Nature Study Calendar com- 

 piled by an Elementary School — the First Prize 

 is awarded to Henley-in-Arden Council School for 

 a long series of records by the scholars, presented 

 with admnable neatness. It extends from January 

 1st to June 30th, 1910, and includes three htmdred 

 and ninety-nine observations out of a total of 

 six lumdred and twenty-seven contributed by the 

 children. The impression conveyed is that Henley 

 is hajipy m possessing a varied and charming bird- 

 life, and that its young folk are being excellently 

 taught to know and observe the various species. 

 The Second Prize goes to Mogerhanger School, 

 Bedfordshu'e, which sends in a "diary compiled 

 by the senior division, containmg good notes 

 on Birds and plants ; and also a series of capital 

 records by the junior division, S2Jecially commend- 

 able for the number of wild flowers noticed and 

 identified. The knowledge of plants and butterflies 

 shows that the children have a good all-rovmd 

 acquaintance with the wild life of the countryside. 



In the other class — Notes on the Songs and Call- 

 notes of Birds — the most careful and extensive 

 series of observations come from Princes Risborough 

 C.E. School, Buckinghamshire. This is a far 

 more difficult study than the previous one, and a 

 special jirize is awarded to the School. Mogerhanger 

 School also wins commendation for a number of 

 naive little rhymes with bu'ds for their subjects. 



BIRD AND TREE FESTIVALS. 



Late, but better late than never, the Frome 



National School celeVjrateil on October 27th the 



\vuuiing of the Somerset Challenge Shield for 



1909-10. The Rev. Prebendary Randolph pre- 



sided o\c'r a crowded inestiug in the Schoolroom, 

 and the prizes were presented by the Duchess of 

 Somer.set, who gave an interesting address and 

 also superintended the planting in the school ground 

 of two young lime-trees, given by the Marquess of 

 Bath. Hearty congratulations were offered to the 

 Head Master, and a presentation was made to the 

 master who trams the boys in Nature Study. 

 Among those present were Lady Ernest St. Maur, 

 the Hon. Mrs. Boyle, and Admiral Arbuthnot. 



Other festivals have likewise been held to cele- 

 brate 1909 successes and to form an inspiring 

 '"send-off" for the Competition of 1910-11. 

 Among them was an excellent entertainment on 

 November 19th at the Holme School, Headley, 

 which took the Second Prize in Hampshire. 



The laiu-els won in the Norfolk Competition 

 (arranged by the County Education Committee) in 

 1910 were awarded to the victors at meetings held at 

 Norwich and King's Lynn on December 1st and 2nd. 

 The R.S.P.B. Challenge Shield was won by Hingham 

 Boys' School ; Certificates went to thirty-eight 

 schools, and Montagu Sharpe Medals to forty -six 

 individual competitors. The prizes were distributed 

 by Mrs. Henry Birkbeck and Mrs. Philip Gurney 

 respectively ; the speakers included the Lord Mayor 

 of Norwich (Mr. Eustace Gurney), Mr. H. Lee 

 Warner, and the Re\-. M. C. H. Bird, and a lecture 

 on •' The Birds About Us " was given by MLss E. L. 

 Turner. No fewer than 141 schools took part in 

 the work this year. 



BIRD DAY IN AUSTRALIA. 

 Miss Ware, late Hon. Sec. of the South Australian 

 Branch of the Royal Society for the Protection of 

 Birds, writes : " Arbor Day in our State Schools 

 will in future be known as Arbor and Bu"d Day. 

 This means that thousands of cliildren in our 

 Commonwealth will be taught to protect and love 

 birds. The work I planned to do among children 

 for our Society will therefore be done on perhaps 

 ampler lines." 



