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Bird - Lore 



there were straws sticking out of the 

 entrance. 



Incidentally, let me say, the birds 

 raised a brood which left about June i ; 

 then they fixed the house up for a second 

 family and in several days were incubat- 

 ing the eggs. It seems easy to get a good 

 tenant if you offer him a good home. — 

 Joseph W. Lippincott, Belhayres, Pa. 



Bird Rest-Perches on Lighthouses 



BiKD-LoRE is glad to publish the ap- 

 pended letter to the Editor from Miss L. 

 Gardiner, Secretary of The Royal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds. 



"Dear Sir, I have read with much in- 

 terest Mr. Grant's article [in the Sep- 

 tember-October Bird-Lore] on the 'Pro- 

 tection of Migrating Birds in England,' 

 but, in justice to this Society, I shall be 

 glad if you will note a few corrections in 

 the next number of Bird-Lore. Mr. 

 Thijsse did not 'induce the British Gov- 

 ernment' to erect perches at any of our 

 lighthouses: the Government, first to last, 

 has had nothing to do with the matter. 

 Nor has the 'Bird Protective Association' 

 its headquarters at Trinity House. 



"The whole initiative was taken by The 

 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 to whom information was kindly supplied 

 by Mr. Thijsse and Mr. Burdet. The 

 whole expense is borne by the Society. 

 The Master and Elder Brethren of Trinity 

 House received a deputation from the 

 Society, consented to rests and perches 

 being erected under the superintendence of 

 their engineers and by their workmen, 

 and have shown sympathetic interest 

 throughout. But the bills are defrayed by 

 the Society. After the war, we hope to 

 extend the work to other Ughthouses, as 

 its success is unquestioned. 



"Yours very faithfully, 



L. Gardiner." 



Reports received from lighthouse 

 keepers and forwarded to the Society from 



Trinity House continue' to show that the 

 bird-rests and perches erected for the 

 shelter and protection of birds on migra- 

 tion are entirely satisfactory in their 

 results. Instead of flying against the 

 lantern and fluttering round and round 

 the bewildering light, the birds now cluster 

 upon the rests, satisfied to be within the 

 beams of light, and there remain until the 

 dawn of day enables them to find their 

 way over sea and land. On hazy and misty 

 nights the use of the rests is most fully 

 demonstrated, as it is on such nights that 

 the destruction was formerly greatest. 



The Principal Keeper at the Caskets 

 writes, November 2: 



"A great number of birds have used the 

 perches during the month of October, 

 especially on the night of the i6th, when 

 they were absolutely covered throughout 

 the night." 



To this the Keeper-in-Charge adds, 

 November 30: 



"The perches have been made good use 

 of by the smaller birds, and saved numbers 

 from killing themselves by flying around 

 and striking the glazing; now they settle 

 on the perches." 



From the Spurn Lighthouse (Yorkshire) 

 and the South Bishop (Pembroke), comes 

 similar testimony; while the Keeper of 

 St. Catherine's (Isle of Wight) writes: 



"From close observation made during 

 the time the perches were in position there 

 is not the slightest doubt that they are of 

 great value in saving the lives of birds 

 during migration, as it is now a very rare 

 occurrence to pick up any dead birds." 



As soon as the declaration of Peace 



makes further work of the kind possible, 



the Society hopes to proceed to equip other 



lighthouses, with the permission and 



cooperation of the Master and Elder 



Brethren of Trinity House, and by the 



aid of subscriptions from those interested 



in work which appeals so strongly to 



lovers of birds and to a sea-going people. 



Extracts from the Annual Report of the R. S. P. 

 B. 191S. 



