BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



69 



the R.S.P.B. wrote to the Bill's supporters that, 

 while viewing with pleasure the pro})osal to give to 

 children in rural districts an education specially 

 adapted to their surroundings and circumstances, 

 they ventured to observe that the introduction of 

 stuffed birds could serve no useful end, while such a 

 subject as " The action of birds and insects on crops," 

 mentioned in the schedule, would be better advanced 

 by the study of living birds through some such means 

 as Bird-and-Tree Competitions. In reply, Mr. Collings 

 writes that he is quite opposed to supi)lying stuffed 

 birds as object-lessons, adding : " I have studied 

 this question in the schools on the Continent, and 

 find that everything necessary to illustrate the 

 education proposed is provided by models in wax 

 and other materials." A description of such models 

 is given in Mr. Collings' work on " Land Reform." 



OUR COUNTRY LANES. 



While hedges and trees are being ruthlessly trimmed 

 in many districts for the purpose of converting the 

 old-fashioned shady country lane into a naked 

 highway for the all-conquering motor, it is refreshing 

 to find one landowner resisting the official pruning- 

 hook. A certain attractive lane in the North Riding 

 owes its charm to an unkept hedge of crab-apple 

 and hawthorn and holly trees, some of them a 

 hundred years old, which afford shelter for cattle, 

 and cover for wild-birds. The owner of the land 

 Mrs. Maynard Proud, taking pride in the beauty of 



the country, not only keeps this old hedge unspoiled, 

 but makes allowance to her tenants so that the 

 roadside grass and the foxgloves and other flowers 

 that grow among it may be spared. She accordingly 

 withstood the Surveyor's order, and the Richmond 

 Council agreed to rescind the notice, one member 

 observing that if we wore to see round all the corners, 

 some houses as well as hedges would have to be 

 ])ulled down. 



THE NEW FOREST. 



An important memorial has been published in 

 the Times (June Ist, 1911) and other newspapers, 

 protesting against the use of the New Forest for 

 military movements at the height of the close season 

 necessary for the preservation of the animal, bird, 

 and plant life which give the Forest its charm and 

 value. Among the names of eminent zoologists, 

 ornithologists, botanists and entomologists appended 

 are those of Mr. Montagu Sharpe, as Chairman of the 

 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ; Mr. 

 Meade-Waldo, on behalf of the Watchers Committee, 

 and several members of the Council, including 

 Mr. Trevor-Battye, who organized the appeal. The 

 New Forest is the nearest approach to a national 

 sanctuary we possess, and it is earnestly hoped that 

 tlie pr sent protest from distinguished naturalists 

 will not only be effective as against military 

 iu'iu'sions in June, but will also lead to the fuller 

 protection of the Forest from collectors of rare 

 hirds and [ilants. 



ucT usr Books Received. usr ^(sr 



First Report of the Bird-Construction 

 Committee of the Aeronautical Society of Great 

 Britain (published by the Society, 10s. 6d. net). 

 — An elaborate examination into, and classification 

 of, the flight and velocity of birds, compiled by 

 Colonel J. D. Fullerton, for the benefit of himaan 

 aeronauts. 



Protected Native Birds of South Austr-^lia 

 (Government of South Australia, Department of 

 IntelUgence). Coloured plates, with descriptions 

 by Mr. Edquist, Lecturer in Nature to the Education 

 Department. — A copy of this pamphlet is sent to 

 every state school and every police officer in South 

 AustraUa, so that those sjjecies which, witli their 

 nests, are fully protected by law, may be known 

 to all. 



A Treasury of Bird Poems. Edited by C. H. 

 Poole, LL.D (Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 5s. — to 

 members of the R.S.P.B., 4s.).— Dr. Poole arranges 

 his anthology imder such headings as " Nests and 

 Nestlings," " Habits of Birds," " Classical and 



Fabulous Birds," and so on, and includes poems 

 and verses by some 300 wTiters, living and deaxl. 

 Bird-lovers will find here many old favourites 

 and a considerable sprmkling of modern verse. 



If I WERE King George — bj- " Hajipy," the 

 King's dog (Hodder & Stougliton) — includes a 

 ])lea for the birds put forward by members of their 

 race who are, however, human enough to believe 

 that some birds were " created to be killed for 

 man's jjleasure and woman's adornment." 



The Cry of the Animals and Birds to their 

 HuM-AN Friends, by ^Irs. Eustace Miles, with 

 Introduction by Ernest Bell. Illustrated by M. 

 Dovaston. (Drane. ) — ilr. Bells name and the 

 author's together are sufficient guarantee of the 

 character of these appeals, uttered in the imaginary 

 persons of various ill-used creatures. 



Songs of the Birds^ by Ida Norman (Elkin 

 ^lathevvs. Is. net), show a pleasant feeling for " the 

 little people of the air." 



