SELBORNIANA. 
1 37 
parts of the country, o the near extermination of this bird. There is no doubt 
that during last winter the majority perished from their being unable to procure 
food, or were frozen to death, Mr. \V. C. Darbey, of Market Street, having had 
brought to him in one day no less than five examples that had been picked up 
dead — but many that would, perhaps, have survived, if unmolested, fell victims 
to itinerant gunners. These latter had exceptional opportunities, insomuch that 
owing to the scarcity of unfrozen water, the kingfishers were forced to approach 
nearer to human habitations, and were also rendered considerably less shy. 
Great pity it is that such a gem-like bird should be almost exterminated in so 
short a time, though I have hopes that in some back streams and secluded parts 
there may be more pairs nesting this year than I imagine, but even if this be so, it 
will be many years before it again becomes as common as it was this time last year. 
That it was common, is patent to anyone who is in the habit of taking riverside 
yvalks. During a ramble around Port Meadow, for example, I have frequently seen 
six or eight birds in the early morning, and the number of kingfishers brought to the 
local birdstuffers last winter is also proof of its abundance till after that season. 
Terrible must have been the sufferings of many birds during the severe and 
protracted frosts, and to a bird whose sole means of sustenance is found in a 
watery element, its hardships and sufferings must be beyond description. I 
should be glad if other observers would send their notes on the destruction of this 
bird to this column, and I sincerely trust that anyone finding this now rare bird 
breeding, will do their utmost to protect it, so that the few survivors may have 
a fair chance of preventing the species from complete extermination.” 
Mr. W. H. Tuck, Tostock House, Bury St. Edmunds, writes in the same 
strain : — “ It is idle to disguise the fact that the kingfisher is practically extermin- 
ated in the southern half of England ; for, in addition to its natural enemies, this 
much-persecuted bird has had to contend against the severest frost of the century. 
Unless, therefore, some lucky birds found food in the deep rivers or the sea they 
were bound to succumb. In every local town boasting of a taxidermist, the same 
story is told of the birds coming in by scores, to be sent up to the towns in the 
north for the hat and screen trade. Many of the occupiers of the water-cress 
beds trapped these birds and sold them for sixpence or ninepence each ! As the 
kingfisher does not get very large additions to its numbers by migrants, it is to be 
hoped that owners of land will encourage it to breed for the next two years, 
by offering a reward for every nest brought off in safety.” 
The Cheddar Pink. — Mr. J. Guthrie Smith writes as follows from Mug- 
dock Castle, Strathblane, N. B. : “About this time last year there was some corres- 
pondence about the disappearance of the Cheddar Pink ( Dianthus of silts) from 
its ancient quarters and its gradual extinction everywhere, and a writer in 
Nature Notes affirmed that this plant did not grow from seed. Through the 
kindness of a brother Selbornian, Mr. Theodore Compton, of Winscombe, who 
offered in a letter to you plants and seeds to the members of the Society, I had 
a liberal supply of both from him. This place is in Stirlingshire, ten miles north 
of Glasgow, and is 540 feet above the sea. On the arrival of the pinks here they 
were carefully planted in the old walls of the terraced gardens, and there they 
safely passed the winter and are now in flower and very healthy. The seeds were 
planted in a box, came up strongly, were picked out singly, and about two 
months ago the sturdy little plants were inserted in the same old wall and have 
taken as kindly to their Northern home, as the plants from sunny Somersetshire 
did last autumn. The old walls here afford shelter to many rare plants, and I think 
I have established the Cheddar Pink in a place where it is secure from the 
ravages of botanists and tourists.” 
Mrs. T. II. Sherring, Barren Down House, Shepton Mallet, writes to say 
that in several places in Somersetshire, notably Castle Cary and Shepton Mallet, 
the “Cheddar” Pink now grows in abundance. In each case the seeds (not 
plants) have been brought from Cheddar and sown on the walls. Even if the 
fears expressed by Bishop Mitchinson (Nature Notes, p. 85) of the plant being 
dispossessed from its one original locality be ever fulfilled, it is evident that 
Dianthus casius will not be utterly extinct in this island. 
Juvenile Students of Natural History.— Amongst the many plans 
adopted for the promotion of an interest in the kindly treatment of animals the 
following item on the programme of the Band of Ilope at Haven Green, Ealing, 
commends itself to our notice : “ May 14th, a show of live pets, with short essays 
