Notes and Comments.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 760, 22 December 1908, Page 2

Notes and Comments.

Nature study notes continue to come to us, proving that the interest aroused by the Star in this direction has not faded away. In Saturday's issuo we had a paragraph about a ihawk s nest found in the Hawera district. Apropos, a Makino resident sends i;s tho following note: 'v. thought it might be of interest to those of your readers who are fond of nature study to know that there was suoh a ihawk' s nest built among some rushes on the property of Mr C. J. Hart, at Makmo. Xhe nest contains three young ones, two of which are fairly well grown, but the third seems to be a weakling. They are rather pretty for young birds and covered with fluffy, taiwny-coflored I hairs, while their wings and tails are edged witlh yodng feathers of a reddish brown colour. They have large, round eyes and strong beaks ; the upper mandible, projecting beyond the lower one, curves down, and ends in a sharp point. They are most pugnacious little creatures, and, on our approaching the nest, raised themselves up angrily, with flashing eyes and beak wide open (even the weak one) as much as to say "hands off." In fact, one stood up so erect that he lost Ihis balance and tumbled over on to his back"; still, he kept up his fighting attitude and did not let <=« his grip of tine rushes of which the nest was buillt. When first seen, about a month ago, the nest contained four eggs. They were white, and about two inches long. The young birds were not 'hatched together, but at intervals of hve or six "days." A cabled item of news tells us that the Duke of Westminister is withdrawing the pensions which he has been paying to the retainers who have grown olid in the service of the Westminster family. This noble scion of an ancient Inouse is one of the wealthiest men in JUngland, and that largely because he is the owner of a very large slice of London city. He owns 30^000 acres in the counties and 600 acres in London. Yet pith, it all he begrudges the pittance ne pays to the aged and infirm on his estate. And the Duke readily pays out. the sum of £10,000 to provide one entertainment for the King and Queen when tiheir Majesties honour him with a visit! The old-age pensions come into operation in England on New Year's Day (next week). The mo3t noble Duke of Westminster wiM' have tingling ears for his New Year gift if he hears and reads the comments passed upon his bad wishes for his faithful retainers. It is our intention to present a ! special Christinas Supplement to readers of the Stab. It will, very api propriately, be issued on Christmas Eve (Thursday), and the four pages will be filled with stories, sketches, i poems, verses, and other reading matter all dealing with, the festive season. A special feature on the first page will be an acrostic in which the season's greetings are conveyed to our readers. Amongst the tales will be the following: "The First Piano in Camp," an epic of Christmas in America; "The Backslider," a stirring I story of the Salvation Army ; "The Call of the 'Phone," a charming in.cident; "The Empty Purse," and the luck it brought. Then there are fairy tafles for young folks, including "Noraih and the Fairies," .and children of ■all ages and^ sizes will delight in perusing a collection of conundrums and riddles. We can assure our readers that they wilt: enjoy the literary fare that the Stab will .provide for Christmas Day.