The Dicky Bird Society

This so-called (expanded) abstract by Fred S. Milton, a graduate student at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, traces the history of children’s nature conservation movements in Britain, 1870-1914. In particular, it discusses the formation of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Dicky Bird Society (DBS). The DBS pledge:

I hereby promise to be kind to all living things, to protect them to the utmost of my power, to feed the birds in the winter time, and never to take or destroy a nest. I also promise to get as many boys and girls as possible to join the Dicky Bird Society.

You can listen to an interview with Mr. Milton at this podcast (the interview begins at about the 6 min 30 sec mark and runs about 11 min).

Also, if you scroll about 2/3rd of the way down this document (or simply do a search for dicky) you'll find a pamphlet that describes the “History of the Dicky Bird Society.”