BIRD LIFE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXI, Issue 15457, 8 November 1910, Page 6

BIRD LIFE.

\Yi; should like to enlist tho sympathy of parents and teachers for the kindly mission which Dt Nedwill lias undertaken. The grey ducks, which are becoming scarce in districts where a decade ago they existed in tens of thousands, liavo been quick to search out sanctuaries for themselves, and of late years some of the birds have been breeding along tho banks of the Avon in Hngley Park and the Public Gardens. 'flic mothers and the broods aro safe from the guns of sportsmen, hut it. is a sad fact, thafc in many instances they fall victims to tho unthinking cruelty of youths and boys. Even the swans are not, immune from attack and

occasionally some maimed bird is found showing in a broken wing or some other injury the. result of brutal treatment. A little kindly admonition irom people who have the opportunity to administer it. would do more than drastic punishments to secure protection for tho birds. Tho young people, oxcent in rare instances, have no deliberate desire to kill, and wo believe tlmfc if they had a better understanding of tho position they would observe the truce that should exist between man and the wild creatures in the city’s recreation grounds. Tho Boy Scouts might give Dr Nedwill valuable assistance in protecting the birds for which he is particularly concerned.