240 
NATURE NOTES. 
earwig which he found with a hatch of eggs, which implies that these insects, 
contrary to the general practice, show maternal solicitude. He placed the eggs in 
a jar, scattered them over the surface of some earth it contained, and then put the 
mother in. She immediately set to work, picking up the eggs with her jaws, and 
conveyed them all to the same spot, where she remained jealously guarding her 
treasure till the young were hatched, and even then the cares of maternity were 
not over, for the young ones clustered round their mother, running in and out 
between her legs and under her body, like chickens under the mother hen.” But 
the sequel of all this maternal care was the death of the mother earwig, who was 
then devoured by her progeny.” 
There are many interesting subjects in Mr. Butler’s book, but it is impossible 
to touch upon them all in our limited space. The plates and numerous woodcuts 
scattered through the text are fairly well executed, and contribute much to the 
attractive appearance of the book. 
SELBORNIANA. 
A Royal Example. — The opportunity he has had of seeing on their way to 
Marlborough House a consignment of new hats for the Princess of Wales and her 
daughters (for they wear the same shape) enables the London correspondent of 
the Liverpool Post to contribute one particular example to the great feather con- 
troversy. They are of the half alpine shape now coming into fashion— black, 
with black velvet and black silk ribbons and feathers. The Princesses wear 
feathers, but they are those of birds which must be shot for human consumption. 
One of the neatest contained a black cock’s tail feathers, while the feather from a 
black Spanish cock’s tail decked another. 
National Trust. — Yet another Society has been formed in the interests of 
those objects which Selbornians want to protect. The full title of this is “ National 
Trust for Places of Historical Interest with Natural Beauty ; ” and the provisional 
council already includes a number of names distinguished in art, science, litera- 
ture and social rank. Among them we notice that of our valued correspondent, 
the Rev. Canon Rawnsley, who will, we doubt not, supply the readers of Nature 
Notes with fuller information as to the Trust at some future period. 
Caged Canaries (pp. 173, 215). — Could the practice of caging birds be 
limited to those born within the bars, it would of course be robbed of a good deal 
of its immediate harm. But unfortunately it cannot. Example is a very subtle 
thing, and spreads like leaven. The sight of any bird in any cage tends to 
keep afloat a barbarous traffic — that of the bird-catcher and bird-fancier ; the 
seed and “bird speciality” seller and the cage maker give an impetus to these, 
and it is to their interest, so long as the public will buy cages, &c. , to see that the 
trade in wild birds does not decline. The sight also continues to keep the eye 
familiar with what any merciful person would feel a thrill of horror at observing 
if he saw it for the first time — that of a winged creature cooped up so as to be 
debarred from flying. It is only because we have grown accustomed to such 
enormities that we can bear to see them. It makes no difference to the moral 
standpoint that the race has been for many generations a captive one. The 
thing is not less mistaken in itself on this account ; because others began a wrong 
will not excuse us in continuing it. As well might one say that there would 
be right on the side of those who wished to go on enslaving the African tribes 
on the pretext that they had become domesticated on an alien soil. That is the 
argument tested in its full development. I yield in fondness for birds to no one ; 
my love for them is such that I cannot endure to see them under conditions other 
than those which are their right by birth ; I would .uin their society, not enforce it. 
I have also the good of my own species at heart, and I think it very question- 
able whether the sight of any creature in a cage has aught but a demoralising 
effect. It appears to me a disgrace to a civilised age. A little unselfishness, 
reverence, and self-denial in the mode of showing admiration and affection for 
the works of God would better become the loftiest among them. It is incum- 
bent on all who really have the progress of humanity as their aim to look beyond 
