Sharpen your pencils and warm up your search engines: the Bird and Mammal quiz is back. Following the success of the Summer 2006 quiz I have set some new questions to keep you busy over the Christmas period. Many of the answers can be found in the Natural History section of this website. Other answers can be found by searching the internet or looking in general Natural History books.

The winner will receive a prize.

THE QUESTIONS

1. In what year did the British Trust for Ornithology start to ring birds?

2. If a pair of binoculars is described as 8 x 40, what do these numbers mean?

3. Which two species of deer are indigenous to the UK? (i.e. they have not been introduced by man).

4. What is the mnemonic people use to remember the song of the yellowhammer?

5. How many species of woodpecker regularly breed in the UK?

6. What is the state bird of New Mexico?

7. Which bird is this? Long, pointed wings; white throat; black moustachial stripe; red ‘trousers’; eats dragonflies.

8. What is the only bird endemic to the UK?

9. True or false? A subspecies of firecrest breeds on the island of Mallorca.

10. On which European peninsula do azure-winged magpies live?

11. Which illustrator had a swan named after him? What is the name of the book which has recently been published about this person?

12. What is the UK’s largest vole?

13. Name the odd one out: strix, athene, ninox, tyto, asio.

14. What is the name of the organisation which maintains the official list of all the birds recorded in the UK (the so-called ‘British List’)?

15. Which member of the crow family has a black body and red bill?

COMPETITION RULES

1. The quiz is open to anyone who lives or works in Northwood or Medham.

2. The closing date is 10am, Tuesday 2 January 2007.

3. Please give both the common and scientific names for questions 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 15.

4. If competitors are tied the winner will be drawn at random.

5. The judge's decision is final.

6. The winner will be notified as soon as possible, with a request to publicise their win in the Northwood News and on the Northwood Village website.

HOW TO ENTER

Send you entry by email or deliver it on paper.

Email to: debbiepledge@hotmail.com Use the word 'quiz' in the subject line.

On paper: 33 Oxford Street, Northwood, PO31 8PT. Use a sealed envelope marked 'quiz'.

On your entry, include your name, email address (if you have one) and contact telephone number.

Further information is available from debbiepledge@hotmail.com