[Editor: This article, about the protection of birds and the Gould League of Bird Lovers, was published in The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 21 October 1909.]
Bird-day in schools.
The Education department is endeavouring to interest children in the protection of birds and has fixed upon the 29th of this month to be celebrated annually as a bird-day in the State schools of Victoria. On the afternoon of that day the usual course of lessons will be abandoned, and attention given wholly to the study of birds.
In and about Melbourne it has been arranged that members of the Bird Observers’ Club, and of kindred institutions, shall visit the schools, and give lecturettes and lessons upon birds.
As a preparation for the event, the school paper for October has been made a special bird number, and short illustrated articles upon different birds have been written as follows:—
“Cuckoos,” by E. Brooke Nicholls; “Herons and Egrets,” by A. H. Mattingly; “Coloration,” by Dudley Le Souef; “The Migration of Birds,” by Robert Hall, curator of the Tasmanian Museum; “The Birds of Australia,” abridged from Mr. A. R. Wallace’s book; “Magpies and Crows,” by T. H. Tregallas; “Mr. and Mrs. Native Hen,” by Mr. J. A. Fletcher, a Tasmanian teacher; “Bird Observing,” by Charles Barrett; “Petrels,” by Dudley Le Souef; “Kingfishers,” by L. G. Chandler; and “The Swallow,” by William Gillies, M.A.
A general invitation will be issued to the children to join the Gould League of Bird Lovers. There is no entrance fee, and each child who wishes to join shall receive a card of membership.
The league is on the same lines as the Audubon Society of the United States, only in Australia it was thought fit to name it in honor of John Gould, the bird man, whose illustrated works on Australian birds are amongst the classics of natural history. His illustrated folio contains 3,000 coloured plates, all with the exception of about 300 devoted to birds. A copy of his illustrated “Birds of Australia” is now worth about £120.
When it can be done conveniently, an excursion will be arranged, and the children asked to name, if possible, every wild bird seen on the outing. These will be tabulated by the ornithologists for eight specified districts, and in this way it is expected that in time distinct lists will be completed showing the location of birds.
Source:
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 21 October 1909, p. 7
Also published in:
Morwell Advertiser (Morwell, Vic.), 22 October 1909, p. 3
The Bendigo Independent (Bendigo, Vic.), 22 October 1909, p. 1
Editor’s notes:
Audubon Society = an movement founded in the USA, comprising of various independent groups, with the aim of protecting birds and their habitats; the first Audubon Society was founded in 1895; the National Audubon Society was incorporated in 1905; the movement was named after John James Audubon (1785-1851), a well-known bird painter and ornithologist
See: 1) “Audubon”, Wikipedia
2) “John James Audubon”, Wikipedia
Gould League of Bird Lovers = an organisation founded in Victoria, in 1909, with the aim of protecting Australian native birds, to stop the collecting of their eggs, to create bird sanctuaries, and to develop people’s interest in, and knowledge of, native birds; branches were subsequently founded in other Australian states; the organisation was named after John Gould (1804-1881), the renowned ornithologist; the organisation’s name was shortened in 1967 to the Gould League, to reflect the widening of its focus to include other environmental issues
See: 1) “Gould League history”, Gould League
2) “Gould League of Bird Lovers of New South Wales membership”, NSW Schoolhouse Museum of Public Education
3) “Gould League of Bird Lovers”, Museums & Galleries of NSW (NSW Government), 19 August 2016
4) “Gould League”, Wikipedia [includes a high-definition copy of a Gould League of Bird Lovers of Victoria certificate]
See also: “[search results for “Gould League of Bird Lovers”]”, Victorian Collections [results show various items, including several membership certificates for the Gould League of Bird Lovers]
John Gould = (1804-1881), ornithologist; he was born in Lyme Regis (Dorset, England) in 1804, spent over a year and a half in Australia (September 1838 to April 1840) studying birds and mammals, and died in London in 1881; based upon his time spent in Australia, he published two multi-volume sets of books, The Birds of Australia (1840-1848) and The Mammals of Australia (1849-1861), both of which were critically acclaimed
See: 1) A. H. Chisholm, “Gould, John (1804–1881)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “John Gould”, Wikipedia
lecturette = a brief lecture, a short lecture
ornithologist = someone who studies birds; someone who engages in ornithology (the scientific study of birds, including their behaviour, classification, habitat, and physiology)
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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