BIRD NOTES AND NEWS 



47 



literary society or field-club or parish gathering, 

 the vehicle for an illustrated talk about 

 Birds. Workers who are too modest to consider 

 themselves qualified for this would find the 

 j)reparation an excellent incentive to study of 

 tlie question, and in this way would make them- 

 selves at once more competent and more zealous 

 in the work. 



For the lighter occasion of amusement and 

 instruction there remains the Lantern Entertain- 

 ment, a vein much less worked in connexion with 

 Bii'd Protection than it might and should be. 

 Few jjeoijle but are called upon to organize or 

 assist in entertainments for winter evenings, and 

 no difficulty need be met in arranging a programme 

 of music, with or without readings, that will delight 

 hearers of any class, while almost insensibly, but 

 often most effectually, converting them to Bird 

 Protection. The Society has been for some time 

 past forming a collection of suitable songs and 

 part-songs, and will be glad of additions or sug- 

 gestions from musical friends. These are lent, 

 together with slides, for the use of vocalists ; 

 readings and recitations will hkewise be provided. 

 Some of these are already largely utilized for Bird 

 and Tree entertainments. 



Amateur photographers could give welcome 

 assistance by lending good clear prints that would 

 make suitable slides for illustration of song or 

 reading. Added interest would attach to the 

 snap-shotting of pretty subjects or pretty sitters, 

 or of the bu'd-life which is now so favourite a subject, 



if the pictures wore definitely selected or grouped or 

 utilized for this purpose. 



Many members of the R.S.P.B. will remember 

 the introduction of the Lantern-song at one of the 

 Society's meetings some years ago, when Madame 

 Antoinette Sterling and other artists sang such 

 songs as Schubert's " The Quail," A. S. Gatty's 

 " One Morning, oh so Early," Claribel's " Robin 

 Redbreast," Moir's " A Lark's Flight," and 

 Cowen's " Swallows." An admirable example of 

 the popular entertainment was given at Romsey 

 Town Hall on November 2nd, Mrs. Suckling's long 

 years of work and influence having enabled the 

 little Hampshire town to give a lead in this matter. 

 The organizers had the advantage of co-operation 

 from a good orchestral society and an excellently 

 trained choir of children from a private school. 

 Most places, however, could in these days furnish 

 amateur instrumentalists and a school chorus ; 

 nor are capable soloists often wanting. The words 

 of each song were thrown on the sheet during the 

 musical prelude, so that no one should miss their 

 purport, and every verso was illustrated by one or 

 more pictures. Effective recitations, also fully 

 illustrated, varied the programme. In many cases 

 it wovild be easy and desirable to introduce a brief 

 lecture or a short account of the Society's work 

 and objects. 



Such entertainments can bo organized without 

 any great difficulty or outlay, and should be a very 

 attractive and profitable means of popularizing 

 Bird Protection and helpmg the funds for the 

 serious and urgent work of the Society. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' 

 Club, edited by W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, Vol. 26 

 (London : Witherby & Co., (Is. net.) Report on the 

 Immigrations of Summer Residents in the spring 

 of 1909 ; also Notes on the migratory movements 

 and records received from Lighthouses and Light - 

 vessels dm-ing the autumn of 1908. Dr. N. F. 

 Ticehurst is now secretary of the B.O.L^. Migration 

 Committee. 



Ornithological Notes from a South London 

 Suburb, 1874-1909. By F. D. Power, M.R.C.S. 

 (London : H. J. Glaisher, 3s. 6d. net.) A model 

 local record, having moi-e than local value not only 

 on account of the careful notes on past and present 

 suburban species, but also for the interesting 

 observations on migration, with accompanying 

 chart. Mr. Power's suburb is Brixton, less of a 

 desert 25 years ago than now, but he includes 



Dulwich and Sydenham. The decreasing species 

 afford melancholy reading to the bird-lover; commons 

 and their lakes are being ruined for bird-life by 

 golfing and boating. Tlie resident species are 

 29 ; summer visitors, 37, of which only 13 now 

 nest ; but occasional and accidental species are 

 put at 40. 



The Young People's Nature-Study Book. 

 The Young People's Microscope Book. In 

 Natures Nursery. By the Rev. S. N. Sedgwick 

 (London : Methodist Publishing House, 3s. 6d. each) 



Animals' Friend ; Animal World ; Animals' 

 Guardian ; Selborne Magazine ; Healthward Ho ! ; 

 Game Laws for 1910 (L'.S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture) ; Revue Francaise d'Ornithologie ; Joiu-nal of 

 the Board of Agriculture ; Bulletin de la Societat 

 Protectora dels Animals y de les Plantes de 

 Catalunya ; etc. 



