Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 171 



Mr. Willett lias doue for Oxford what Mr. Rotliscliild has 

 accomplished for Cambridge^ iu securiug for the Uni- 

 versity a piece of Wickeri Feu, the haunt of the Swallow- 

 tail Butterfly. The Ruskiu Plot is situate at Cothill, near 

 AbiugdoUj Berks, and is not meant so much for collecting- 

 purposes as for observation. It is hoped that a systematic 

 record year by year of a piece of ground uninterfered witli 

 by cultivation will be in itself of considerable scientific 

 interest. (Museum Journal, i. p. 139.) 



l^he Protection of Birds in New Zealand. — In couimou 

 with New Zealand ornithologists, we have often deplored the 

 traffic in the rare birds of that country, threatening, as it 

 does, the extii'pation at no distant time of many of the unique 

 forms. The Government of our progressive Colony has at 

 length devised an expedient which, we hope, will put an effectual 

 stop to this traffic. A measure has been passed by the local 

 legislature, under the title of " The Maori Antiquities Act, 

 1901,^' for the ostensible object of prohibiting the exportation 

 of ancient carvings and other works of Maori art; but the 

 Act is made far-reaching, and its provisions are extended to 

 all " objects of scientific value or of historical interest relating 

 to New Zealand.^' There is a proviso exempting from its 

 operation any ''botanical or mineral collections or specimens," 

 but not zoological. This gives the Government the powder to 

 put down with a firm hand the dealers^ depredations, of which 

 so much complaint has of late been heard. The new measure 

 will give the very distinctive avifauna of New Zealand a 

 chance of surviving ; and this will be a matter of delight to 

 all lovers of birds. The last captured specimen of Notornis 

 manteili could only be kept in the colony by the Government 

 coming forward and purchasing it, for £250, for one of the 

 local museums. This was in deference to strong public 

 opinion on the subject. Under the present statute-laAv no 

 such specimen could be sent away without the express 

 written authority of the Colonial Secretary ; and we may be 

 sure that this would not be granted, except perhaps in favoiir 

 of some public museum. We heartily cougratulare our 



