ANIMAL SANCTUARIES 109 



the reach of the network of railways and roads 

 which radiate in all directions, while in regard to 

 the majority of the smaller kinds which are 

 indigenous to this country, they are better able to 

 take care of themselves. 



In the case of our birds, however, although the 

 question of lack of space does not arise, inasmuch as 

 they are able to journey from one place to another 

 in an element which the human race has but lately 

 made use of for the purpose of flights in aeroplanes 

 or airships, yet, nevertheless, the craze for securing 

 specimens of the rarer types, and the collecting of 

 their eggs, has proved very detrimental to their 

 welfare and greatly reduced their numbers. Then, 

 also, the growth of our cities and towns has been 

 the cause of driving our feathered folk further 

 afield ; but efforts have been made in many districts 

 to stop their exodus by providing them with 

 sanctuaries wherein they can build their nests and 

 rear their young undisturbed. One of the best- 

 known bird sanctuaries in the vicinity of London is 

 situated in the Brent Valley and supported by the 

 members of the Selborne Society ; while in the 

 metropolis itself there is an enclosure devoted to 

 the preservation of bird life in Highgate Woods. 

 Others have been established at Letchworth, in 

 Hertfordshire, and at Brean Down, in Somerset ; 

 the latter owing its inception to the Royal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds. 



It is, however, the large game reserves or 

 sanctuaries of foreign climes that appeal to the 

 imagination far more than the humble establish- 



