Letters to the Editor
Name of the game
THE watercolour that is reproduced here was painted by Charles Earle in 1873, the foundation year of Yarlet, the Staffordshire preparatory school. Nearly 150 years later, the nature of the apparently sporting activity in the foreground remains an unsolved mystery—any reader ideas are most welcome.
Nick Tarling, London
The woman who saved the birds
I READ with great interest your feature on little egrets), but was disappointed that there was no mention of my ancestor, Etta Lemon (). Etta was a true heroine, who campaigned for 50 years against the huge slaughter of wild birds to provide feathers for ladies’ hats. Her battle triumphed with the passage of the Plumage Act of 1921, which saved the birds from endless destruction. Her legacy was also the RSPB, born through the determined efforts of a group of women led by Etta. There are two books about her pioneering conservation work, both by Tessa Boase, the most recent being .
