There are sometimes odd little happenings which get mentioned in the official Log Books of Victorian schools.
They can bring routine records of the past to life, like this entry from Bwlch-y-sarnau School in September 1881 :

The entry above from the school record says :
"Warm weather at present. A large Hawk visited the School yesterday, and broke four squares of glass in the windows, in trying to escape. It came in through the casement..."

The 'casement' here means one of the windows. It is possible that the 'large hawk' was a buzzard, which would have been big and heavy enough to do quite a bit of damage to the school windows !

There was another 'bird' entry in the school Log Book the year before, when the teacher mentioned having heard the first cuckoo in April 1880 :
"I heard the cuckoo sing on Wednesday, for the first time this year".
People still listen out to hear their first cuckoo of the year, and some of them write to the papers about it !

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