66 
NATURE NOTES 
not find it. Then I thought I would retrace my steps to where 
I had rested under the old oak, but the old oak tree had dis- 
appeared : there were trees and trees in abundance, but not my 
tree. If not exactly lost, I was for some time puzzled to find 
the way out, and the thought of getting further into the maze 
was not reassuring. A night in the forest, however romantic it 
might appear to an outsider, would probably be anything but a 
pleasant experience for the belated stranger unused to the land- 
marks and there for the first time. At last I encountered a 
man on horseback, who advised me to strike out into the open 
in a certain direction. I followed this advice and found myself 
in totally different surroundings from the way I had come. 
And to this hour it is a mystery to me as to where I struck in, 
and a greater wonder still as to where and how I got out. 
However, I found myself at last in Brockenhurst in time to 
catch a train to Southampton, and so ended my day in the New 
Forest. 
WHY NOT MAKE THE NEW FOREST A 
PERMANENT AND NATIONAL PRESERVE FOR 
BIRD-LIFE? 
HE increased and increasing interest in our British bird- 
life makes me ask whether any pressure can be 
brought to bear upon the Hampshire County Council 
to introduce again this year their proposal to schedule 
the bird-life of the New Forest for stricter preservation. A 
writer in the Field of a few weeks ago gave it as his opinion 
that the depredation of birds’ nests allowed to go on during the 
nesting season had so thinned the bird-life in the New Forest 
as to rob the great national woodland of one of its chief charms. 
The writer stated that the County Council was willing to 
mend matters, but their suggestion to preserve the bird-life of 
the Forest by the application of the Wild Birds Act in extenso 
had been nullified by the local Crown authorities. It seems 
a great pity that some understanding cannot be arrived at 
between the County Council and the Crown. 
The Crown woodland is only a small portion of the Forest, 
and one would expect that the slight interference with shooting 
and sporting rights would have been compensated for by in- 
creased rest for the larger game, the deer that belong to them. 
At any rate, one would urge that the verderers of the New 
Forest, who are not always in agreement with the Crown official 
view as to management of the New Forest, should be sounded 
on the matter, and the question of making the most ancient of 
our national forests a permanent preserve for wild bird-life 
should be brought before the Hampshire County Council. Of 
course, one can only appeal to local branches of the Selborne 
Society, or bird lovers in the neighbourhood of the Forest to set 
the ball rolling. H. D. Rawnsley. 
