Welsh Journals

Governors accept the county scale. When the fact is considered that Welsh counties receive a grant from the Treasury equivalent to a id. rate over and above grants paid in English counties, it seems astounding that wealthy counties like Glamorgan and Monmouth cannot establish a scale similar to those of Salop and Lancashire. Welsh politicians boast of our glorious Intermediate system, quite unmindful of the under-current of seething discontent among assistant teachers, and it is a deplorable fact that during the last four years 33% of its assistant masters have left one Welsh county and that the richest, for more lucrative posts beyond the border. Their posts are filled by inexperienced men, and yet head-masters are expected to maintain the high traditions of Welsh Secondary Education. In England, the Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools, as a general rule, judges the efficiency of the staff by the rate of payment, but in Wales the policy of the Board of Education is different, for its criticisms are always directed against curricula, presumably on the assumption that, if the scheme of work is satisfactory, the human element may be ignored. It is refreshing to find that there is one public body which has grappled with this problem. The City of Cardiff has revised and improved its old Scale with a maximum of £ 230 to its Intermediate school masters, and by doing so has set an excellent example to the rest of Wales. Bird Naturalists and bird-lovers of South Sanctuaries Wales have watched with approbation and a growing interest, the conversion of that small strip of land just across the Channel, Brean Down, into a bird sanctuary. In 1912, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds acquired this peninsula, an ideal spot for its purpose, and placed watchers thereon to protect its inmates against the depredations of marauding egg- collectors. In the short period since its foundation, the sanctuary has been patronised by two of the grandest, but it is regrettable to note, now almost the rarest of British birds, the raven and the peregrine falcon. Were these the only birds here domiciled, the aims of the Society would have been more than realised, but many others have recognised this haven of refuge. Puffins are here, their snowy breasts, seen from the sea resembling rock-roses growing in quaint array, whilst in the small inlets, a few herring gulls may be seen bathing, their eerie cackle floating sea-wards like distant human laughter. Up on the hill-side can be heard the weird though fascinating cry of the curlew, leaving her nest to go lazily flapping over the heath, whilst down on the shore, ringed plovers and oyster catchers keep up a continuous plaintive whist- ling. A pair of sheldrakes come sailing out round a headland on rapidly vibrating wings, their hoarse quacking coming back over the sea as these magnifi- cent birds go winging on their way. Lapwings leave their blotchy eggs uttering despairing cries. Down the cliff-side the monotonous and contented chirp of the rock-pipit is heard, in answer to his mate's queries from her nest close to the booming surf. Up on the hill-side their cousins the meadow-pipits are per- forming their wonderful aerial dives, singing lustily the while, their song culminating in a final glide to earth. All these are but a few of the denizens here assembled, and when the success of this project, indicated by the number and rarity of these birds, congregated in this comparatively small area is realised. the possibility of saving the Birds of Wales by forming a like protective area immediately suggests itself. In the selection of a site for a Bird Sanctuary importance must of necessity be attached to its physical conditions which should be of such a nature as to contain suitable breeding haunts for the majority of birds. Their need There is a small tract of land by in Wales name Sully Island, lying about 7 miles below Cardiff and about three miles east of Barry. An island at high water, it becomes at low tide a peninsula, distant about 300 yards from the mainland, whence it presents a bowl like appearance, the rising ground on left and right being covered with gorse and bramble beloved of linnets and finches. The central portion is flat and has on its right a small reedy marsh, a haunt of mallards, whilst on the left, soft springy grass termi- nates in a pebbly foreshore which is a happy hunting- ground of oyster-catchers and ringed-plovers. Facing the sea on the south and east sides of the Island are small cliffs, the former the breeding site of rock-pipits, the latter until quite recently being the home of the rockdove and kestrel. The west side whilst not possessing any great cliff has a small foreshore. It will thus be seen that Sully Island possesses the requirements necessary for a bird sanctuary, and this consideration coupled with the fact that the Island is at present for sale with probably the rental of the shooting rights," should emphatically suggest its prompt acquisition as a bird sanctuary by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. During the last two years, a correspondent has observed and photographed birds on this island, and the percentage of nests having the eggs indiscrimin-