BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



103 



birds with nice feeling and in a pleasant way, 

 but their trees are far too bookish. 



As regards Berkshire, it must again be said that 

 Buckland stands out as champion among all the 

 counties. The essays are so intelligent, so bright 

 and spirited, and so full of observation and sugges- 

 tion, that they are most entertaining to read, and 

 constitute a delightful example of nature-study of 

 the right kind. Burghfield takes second place, and 

 sends in very creditable work, the trees being 

 especially good. 



CUMBERLAND. 



There was no difficulty in awarding the Shield 

 or Cumberland, Kirkoswald being conspicuously 

 at the head for genuine and personal observation, 

 in spite of one or two lapses into book sentences. 

 Two papers, by a girl of eleven, show remarkable 

 originality and accuracy ; and the essays on trees 

 are all good in matter and natural in style. The 

 trees, too, are the best in Borrowdale's set, which 

 is given second place. Greystoke is highly to be 

 commended for choosing less familiar birds ; its 

 essays are painstaking and well illustrated. The 

 Calderbridge team send long and elaborate pieces 

 of work, detailing a great amount of information 

 in admirable style and handwriting. St. John's, 

 Keswick, write nice little essays, and have paid 

 much attention to local conditions. Maryport sets 

 a notable example by the amount of interest taken 

 m the competition, twenty-six children besides 

 those sending in essays having joined the team ; 

 their work is of very varied quality, but indicates 

 the presence of a zealous teacher. Upperby's 

 efforts are very creditable, both for information and 

 good feeling, and the team will do better still next 

 time. It would seem that Cumberland children 

 remain at school longer than most country boys 

 and girls, the average of age being high ; but it by 

 no means follows in work of this kind that excel- 

 lence is in proportion to age. 



HAMPSHIRE. 



Hampshire sends in a capital collection of essays, 

 showing a considerable advance both in numbers 

 and quality upon last year's competition ; and the 

 half-dozen schools placed in the first class are so 

 nearly on a level of excellence— though excellence 

 wholly different in kind — that any one of them 

 may carry off the Shield in 1906. After much con- 

 sideration the judges give the award to Privett on 

 account of the enthusiasm and sincerity evidenced 

 by the team, and the accuracy of their observa- 

 tions ; the selection of the subjects like the Shrike 



(a capital piece of work) and Whitebeam also in- 

 dicates a welcome freshness of mind and eye. 

 Privett's victory is good proof of what maybe done 

 in a small country school, for Privett is a little 

 village remote from towns, though surrounded by 

 lovely country. The second and third teams, on 

 the other hand, come from towns. The Sandown 

 essays show extremely close and careful observa- 

 sion, and the tree sketches are quite charming. 

 The Bitterne Park girls also draw well ; their 

 essays, excellent as they are, trees especially, would 

 be better for a little pruning. Closely following 

 these three winners come Hayling, showing the 

 true naturalist spirit in their essays, especially 

 those on the Kingfisher and bay-tree ; Sandown 

 girls, with a pretty gracefulness all their own ; and 

 Bitterne boys, whose errors in tact are largely re- 

 deemed by the real intelligence manifested. There 

 is again but a narrow division between these and 

 the schools placed in the second class. East 

 Stratton and Headley, both admirably taught, do 

 credit to their teaching ; it is pleasant to read 

 of the nature-study rambles and the interest taken 

 in the competition at Stratton; and the natural 

 history is sound as well as sympathetic in both 

 these schools. The Ridge and Havant papers are 

 careful, intelligent and well written. The Ventnor 

 girls, who display a genuine feeling for nature, will 

 do still better when they trust more to their own 

 outdoor notes and choose less familiar birds. Very 

 good essays come from Yateley, things taught 

 being amplified by things seen ; and the Godshill 

 team remember excellently what they have learned 

 It is only possible to briefly commend Pennington, 

 Eversley, Lymington (British School), Hinton 

 Ampner, Barton Stacey (with a delightful Owl 

 essay, almost as good as anything in the prize sets), 

 Milton, West End, Laverstoke, Bramdean, Boldre, 

 Wickham, and North Stonehain. 



SOMERSET. 



The competition was extended to Somerset this 

 year for the first time, so that it is not surprising 

 if the essays are not, as a whole, so good as those 

 of some other counties. Nevertheless the schools 

 of the county make an excellent start, and one 

 that promises well for future years. The worst 

 fault is the common one, that competitors do not 

 write sufficiently from their own observation, but 

 trust too much to facts they have found in books 

 or learned from their teacher. Observation, how- 

 ever, is not a thing that can be acquired all at 

 once, for the training of the eye is much more 

 difficult than the training of the verbal memory, 



