NATURE NOTES 
i;3 
ing in the warm air. A particularly large and symmetrical specimen was pointed 
out, which covered an area having a diameter of at least a hundred feet. Homes 
of the woodpecker and other birds were discovered and explored, and the 
methods of their respective inhabitants explained. The party then made its way 
through Loudwater Park and along the Chess Valley, where an abundance of 
extremely interesting botanical pabulum was obtained ; nests of the sedge-warbler, 
linnet, butcher-bird, greenfinch, and other birds were investigated, and much 
mutual information was exchanged. Across the river and fields we went up 
to Sarratt, where a welcome tea at the “ Cock,” partaken of in an orchard, under 
the shade of trees laden with luscious black cherries, was entirely appreciated. 
A peep at the church, with its Jacobean pulpit and saddleback roof, and then 
for home, through golden auburn cornfields, whose beauty drew expressions of 
admiration from all ; past the placid hamlet of Micklefield Green, and so to 
Chandler’s Cross, where a slight halt was utilised for a discussion on the varying 
nests and methods of swallows and martins. Then came the avenue of Finch’s 
Wood, whose tall and stately elms, with their high and interlacing branches, seen 
in the failing light, recalled the richly groined arches of some magnificent 
cathedral, a scene so impressive as to cause frequent pauses in order to appreciate 
its grandeur. A pleasant walk brought the party across Croxley Green, and with 
a minimum of high road, it once more reached Rickmansworth Station, conscious 
of an afternoon well spent in the true spirit of our Master at Selborne. 
Saturday, July 21. — Eighteen Selbornians assembled at St. Albans, and 
passing across Victoria Street — now a busy thoroughfare and one of the main 
streets in the city, but formerly an old country road known as Sweelbriar Lane — 
a move was at once made for the County Museum in Hatfield Road. Here 
a choice collection of local pictures from the pen and pencil of the late Mr. 
F. G. Kitton was much admired, as well as the various collections of birds and 
butterflies, coins, geological specimens, Roman pottery, flint implements, &c. 
Although the museum is in its infancy, the general excellence and well-set-out 
arrangement of the collections in a restricted space (especially the life-histories 
of insects, &c.) were much admired. Mr. Westell, the guide, briefly commented 
upon some of the birds, and pointed out other objects of interest. St. Peter’s 
Church, where many of those slain in the battles of St. Albans lie buried, was 
next visited, a short paper being read there, and then Pemberton’s Almshouses, 
the site of Hall Place (recently demolished) and St. Peter’s Street (the site 
of the two battles of St. Albans) were passed in turn. The site of the Castle 
Inn (now a tobacconist’s shop), where the Duke of Somerset was slain, reminded 
the party of the reference to this fact in Shakespeare’s “ Henry VI.” (Second 
part, Act 1, Scene iv. ) ; and an old Tudor house, with a wrought iron balcony 
in front, was pointed out as the one-time home of Lady Alicia Jennings, and 
probably the house occupied by the Mayor of St. Albans when he presented 
an address to Queen Elizabeth on her way to Gorhambury. The old Moot Hall 
(now a stationer’s shop) was shown, this being the building in which the rioters 
in Wat. Tyler’s Rebellion were tried in 1381, and where Henry VI. held a 
Council of his nobles in 1455. French Row (so called because it was occupied 
by the French in 1217) was next traversed, and the quaint old houses and inn- 
yards afforded much interest. 
The Clock Tower, the spot where an Eleanor Cross once stood, and the site 
of the Wax House Gate to the Monastery, were duly noted, and a short walk 
along the old High Street brought the party to the top of Holywell Hill, from 
which a superb view of well-wooded St. Stephens is obtainable. The old inn- 
yards in Holywell Hill were noticed eu route, this being part of the old coaching 
road, and the quaint architecture, as seen from the inside of the yards, was much 
commented upon as interesting links with the past. The White Hart Hotel, 
where Simon, Lord Lovat, when on his way to the Tower, gave a sitting to 
Hogarth, was pointed out, and this brought the Selbornians to the old Sumpter 
Yard, where the pack mules which brought goods to the Monastery were 
unloaded. The residence of the present Bishop was passed, and then the fine 
old Abbey was examined, both from the outside and within. It is impossible 
in our restricted space to mention the many interesting things pointed out here. 
The Shrines of St. Alban and St. Amphibalus, the various Chantries, the 
painted ceiling, the frescoes, the magnificent Wallingford screen, the Tower, 
the Lady Chapel, the Saint’s Chapel, the Watching Gallery, &c., were all 
