STRIPPING THE BARK FROM AN OAK TREE IN THE 



vEST. 



LIFE IN THE NEW FOREST— I 



By F. MARTIN DUNCAN, F.R.P.S. 

 Illustrated with Photographs by the Author 



THE New Forest ! What recollections 

 of feudal England its name brings 

 to mind ! Although called the 

 New Forest, it is probably one of the 

 oldest forests in England. Even to-day 

 it holds many specimens of timber which 

 date back beyond the time of the Roman 

 Conquest. 



The Forest embraces in its entirety 

 considerably over 92,000 acres. Of this 

 there are 62,746 acres over which one 

 may wander without let or hindrance. 

 Here and there, we may come upon a 

 fenced area which is kept as a sanctuary 

 and resting-place fcjr some of the wild 

 creatures, which but for these small reser- 

 vations would inevitably disappear. 



It is a great misfortune that the whole 

 of the Forest is not appropriated as a 

 national reservation for the protection of 



the many birds, beasts, insects and plants 

 which are all too rapidl}^ becoming extinct, 

 thanks to the depredations of the pro- 

 fessional collector. During the last few 

 years the professional collectors who 

 frequent the Forest, and make their 

 living by collecting and seUing cater- 

 pillars, butterflies, birds' eggs, etc., have 

 increased in number and in activity ; and 

 it is inevitable that unless some measures 

 are taken to put a stop to the present 

 wholesale collecting of the rarer insects, 

 plants and birds' eggs, the Forest will 

 soon become denuded. 



The wide area of the Forest presents 

 such unique features of varying environ- 

 ment that nearly all creatures and plants 

 to be found in Great Britain might make 

 a home within its confines. 



Passing through the Forest glades on a 



890 



