56 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



COUNCIL MEETING. 



At the meeting of the Council of the Society for 

 the Protection of Birds held on October 14th, 1904, 

 the subjects under consideration included : The 

 Destruction of Swallows on the Continent, Mr. L. H. 

 Hawksley very kindly attending to give information 

 with respect to Italy ; Flapper Shooting and the 

 advisability of extending the Close Time for Wild 

 Duck to September 1st; various County Council 

 Orders ; Foula and the Great Skuas ; Smuggling 

 of Bird Skins from India ; The Whale Fisheries 

 (Scotland) Bill ; The Cranleigh Osprey Case ; 

 suggested Cage Bird Poster ; Richmond Park 

 Reserves, etc. The report presented dealt with, 

 among other matters, Bird and Tree Day Essays ; 

 Regulations for the Loan of Slides ; Appeal to the 

 Rajah for Bird Protection in Sarawak ; Circular 

 Letter re Bird Catching to County Constabulary ; 

 and the recent Egg Sale at Stevens's, at which 

 certain lots of illegally taken eggs, objected to by 

 the Society, were withdrawn from sale. 



IN THE COURTS. 



At Guildford County Bench on October 24th, 

 Charles Buck, keeper on the Vachery estate, 

 Cranleigh, was summoned for having shot an 

 osprey at Cranleigh on September 16th, and Mr. 

 Inglewood Parkin, his employer, was summoned 

 for having aided and abetted him. Mr. Polhill, 

 Solicitor to the R.S.P.C.A., prosecuted. Mr. Parkin 

 had admitted that he authorised the shooting of 

 the bird, which was feeding on the trout in the 

 lake, but ignorance of the law was pleaded. 

 Defendants were fined 10s. each, and the Bench 

 ordered the osprey (which had been mounted) 

 to be confiscated and offered to the Charterhouse 

 School Museum. 



At the Eye (Suffolk) Petty Sessions on September 

 1 2th, a boy, named Ernest Charles Clamp, was 

 charged with having two barn owls in his posses- 

 sion, and admitted having taken them from the 

 nest. Fined 10s., and the birds forfeited. 



At Mailing Petty Sessions (Kent) on October 

 10th, two London birdcatchers were summoned for 

 taking wild birds at Mailing on Sunday, September 

 nth. They had caught thirteen goldfinches, chaf- 

 finches, and linnets. One of the men denied on 

 oath that he assisted in the capture, while the 

 other avowed that he intended to take sparrows 

 only ; and the Chairman said the Bench would 

 consider whether they should not be charged with 

 committing perjury. Fined £1 and 10s. costs, 

 the birds being forfeited. Further charged with 

 cruelty to a decoy linnet, they were sentenced, 

 one to a fortnight, the other to a week's imprison- 

 ment. — Two men, named Scarrett, father and son, 

 of Chiswick, were fined £1 and 9s. 6d. costs, with 

 seven days' imprisonment in the case of the older 

 defendant, for ill-treating a decoy linnet.— Two 



Crayford men were fined 5s. and us. 6d. costs for 

 taking goldfinches at Wrotham, with a further 6s. 

 for giving false addresses. 



At Cullompton, on October 30th, the station- 

 master of Hemyock was fined ,£1 for having three 

 young goldfinches and a trap cage in his pos- 

 session. He said he used the birds for mating 

 purposes only ; but the birds were recently caught. 

 The Bench refused to order confiscation of cage 

 and birds. — At the same court a Tiverton stable- 

 man was fined 10s. for exposing a trap cage with 

 decoy goldfinch. 



Another case of cruelty to decoy linnets was 

 heard at Exeter on October 24th, when Thomas 

 Ward was fined £1 for this offence. Engaged in 

 bird-catching on Sunday, the 9th, he had three 

 linnets placed as decoys, the string cutting into 

 the flesh. One died when released, and two dead 

 birds were found between the nets. He had 

 caught a great number of linnets. Mr. Studd, 

 J. P., said that defendant might think himself lucky 

 he was not sent to prison ; should other offenders 

 come before the court they would be dealt with 

 much more severely. 



At Greenwich on November 4th a birdcatcher 

 was fined 40s. and 4s. costs or one month for 

 causing unnecessary suffering to two jackdaws 

 and two rooks. The birds were found on the 

 defendant's premises in a dirty, neglected state, 

 with braces on, made of thin string, cutting the 

 flesh. The defendant said the braces were not 

 worn because the birds were used as decoys, but 

 that they improved the bird's plumage. 



"HOW TO HELP IN BIRD 

 PROTECTION." 



Practical Hints to Workers. 



Leaflet No. 52, issued by the Society for the Protection 

 of Birds. Copies may be had at 3d. per doz., is. 9c!. 

 per 100. 



CHRISTMAS CARD. 



Now Ready. 

 "THE SONG OF THE SEASON." 

 By the kindness of Mr. J. MacWhirter, R.A., the 

 Society's Christmas Card for 1904 is illustrated witli 

 reproductions in black and white of his two charming 

 pictures, "A Winter Song" and "The Blackbird's 

 Song." 



Price, one card, 2d. ; one dozen cards, is. 6d. 



Next Issue. — The next Number of Bird Notes 

 and News will be ready on April 1st, 1905. 



Reading Cases for Bird Notes and News can be 

 obtained from the office at a cost of is., including 

 postage. They will be found very useful to keep the 

 numbers together, and also for use in Public Libraries. 



Bird Notes and News will be sent post free to any 

 address for is. per annum, payable in advance. 



To Members of the Society subscribing 5s. and 

 upwards per annum it will be forwarded gratis and 

 post free. 



Printed by Witiierby & Co., 326, High Holborn, W.C., and 

 published by the Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 3, Hanover Square, London, W., of whom copies may be obtained, 

 price 2d. each. 



