BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



67 



we found a Magpie's nest containing four eggs, and 

 in a tree in the same hedge we found another new 

 Magpie's nest, containing five Kestrel's eggs. 



" Tliere is a general belief among farmers and 

 gamekeepers, in fact, among the public generally, 

 that the Kestrel ought to be shot on account of a 

 habit of taking off and destroying poultry and game. 

 Yet in realitj' its chief food is beetles and small birds, 

 also voles and sometimes frogs and moles. It is 

 undoubtedly only when the Kestrel has young, that 

 it becomes so daring as to rob Pheasant poults and 



hen-coops, and if these were properly looked after 



this would surely never be the ctuse 



" The Si)arrow-Hawk, like tin Kestrel, is very 

 faithful to its old nesting locality ; but, though 

 sometimes making use of the same nest again, it 

 usually builds another nest in a tree in the same 

 wood that it had chosen before. I have noticed 

 this fact time and again, for though T found six nests 

 of the Sparrow-Hawk this year, containing eggs, I 

 liave always notice 1 an old nest in the same wood." 

 J. D. Bell {Second Prize), Bedford Grammar School* 



UcT ucT UgT Notes. UcT UcT .XoT 



A NATIONAL SANCTUARY. 



The subject of a National Sanctuary for 

 bird and beast, brought forward by Mr. J. C. 

 Tregarthen at the Annual Meeting of the 

 R.S.P.B., is one well worth consideration. 

 If great continents like North America and 

 smaller countries like Switzerland con- 

 sider it well to set aside extensive areas 

 for the preservation of indigenous animals, 

 it is no less desirable that some corner of 

 Great Britain should be marked out, in 

 which all wild things Avould be absolutely 

 safe from interference. Those who have 

 heard Mr. Thompson Seton describe the 

 Yellowstone Park must have been struck by 

 his account of the strange feeling of mutual 

 security which is enjoyed there by both 

 man and beast ; in England there are no 

 bears or lions to preserve, but shy, wild 

 creatures that might become less shy, and 

 that are doomed to disappear if no refuge 

 is allotted them. Some coast area of Corn- 

 wall, where seal and otter and badger, chough, 

 and peregrine still exist, seems well suited 

 for such a purpose ; it is also suggested 

 that the dehghts of the New Forest and of 

 Epping would be multiplied if sanctuary 

 conditions obtained and unqualified protec- 

 tion were given to all wild creatures \\ithin 

 their limits. Such a sanctuary, on a smaller 

 scale, might be repeated in every county 



l)y the setting aside of a tract of woodland 

 where birds and other creatures could dwell 

 unharmed . 



RARE BIRDS IN YORKSHIRE. 



An experiment is to be made at Hornsea 

 Mere this spring in endeavouring to establish 

 there the Bearded Tit, whose chief (almost 

 the only) breeding- place is now the Norfolk 

 Broads. Seeing the value set on the bird 

 by collectors, the attempt has its dangers, 

 but as it is under the auspices of Mr. St. 

 Quintin, a member of the Watchers Com- 

 mittee of the R.S.P.B., it is certain that 

 every precaution will be taken ; and the 

 more of the birds that can be domiciled in new 

 quarters, the less will be their value and the 

 greater their safety in the case of the collector. 

 An Osprey in full plumage, a Glossy Ibis, 

 and a Hoopoe were among the rarer birds 

 shot in Yorkshire last year. The Great 

 Crested Crebe, the Tufted Duck, Goldfinch 

 and Hawfinch are increasing in the county 

 according to the report for 1910 presented 

 to the annual meeting of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union. 



MR. LECKY AMONG THE 

 " SENTIMENTALISTS." 



Bird Protectors are well accustomed to 

 being alluded to as sentimentalists, a word 

 that has now become almost identified with 



