NATURE NOTES. 
138 
Wood-Pigeons in the City. — Early in the spring of the present year a pair 
of wood-pigeons built a nest in an elm tree in the churchyard — now laid out as a 
public garden — of St. Botolph, Aldersgate Street, in the very heart and busiest part 
of the City of London, within a stone’s throw of the General Post Office — an extra- 
ordinary occurrence, the like of which, it is understood, has never before been known. 
Two eggs were duly hatched, and the young birds thrived for a while, but came to 
an untimely and most unfortunate end. One was found drowned early one morn- 
ing in the basin of an ornamental fountain near the entrance, by the night police- 
man, whose beat extends through the churchyard ; and the other was picked up a 
day or two afterwards by the garden-keeper at the foot of the elm tree, with one 
wing nearly torn off, and had to be destroyed. The parent birds, not discouraged 
by this disaster, are now (June 13) sitting again with a second brood. Unluckily 
the tree with the nest — which is about thirty-five feet from the ground — stands in 
an awkward angle close up to and overhung by some lofty buildings recently erected 
for the Post Office authorities ; consequently, as the churchyard is narrow, there is 
a risk of further misfortunes when the young birds leave their nest and first attempt 
to fly. The garden-keeper, who takes great interest in the matter, fears that even 
if this difficulty is overcome, inasmuch as it will probably take place at an early 
hour, when there are no people about and the place is quiet, the fledglings will 
fall a prey to the cats, which at that time are generally prowling about, but it is to 
be hoped that these forebodings may not be realised. 
1 14, Albion Road, Stoke Newington, N. Harry Chiperfield. 
Is Helix pomatia native to Great Britain?— In the March issue of 
that delightfully .Selbornian work. The Country' Month by Month, is a reference 
(p. 41) to the introduction of Helix pomatia into this country by the Romans, as 
if it were an admitted fact. I should like to know if the question has been 
thoroughly considered and finally settled by our conchological authorities. Mr. 
Lovell Reeve, in his British Mollusks 61), speaks doubtfully: — “ // is said 
to have been introduced into England about the middle of the i6th century, 
either as a foreign delicacy, or as a cure for consumption. The species, if not 
indigenous, has become fully naturalized in our southern counties, but it is not 
generally common. Few Englishmen venture to partake of Helix pomatia, 
though Ben Jonson and Lister have extolled it as a dainty dish.” A few lines 
further on he says, “Specimens had been transported from Italy some thirty 
years before by an English nobleman, for the same purpose ” (the cure of consump- 
tion) “ to the neighbourhood of Reigate and Box Hill .... and .... they 
had bred abundantly.” This is distinctly non-committal on the general question, 
though the introduciion at Box Hill and Reigate seems accepted. From the data 
given, that introduction must have taken place about 1820. The name of the 
“English nobleman” is not given. The tradition of the Roman introduction is 
not referred to. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys is emphatically in favour of nativity. He 
states {Brit. Conch., vol. i., p. 177) — “ There was at one time a popular notion 
that it had been introduced into this country by the Romans, because it is found 
near several ancient encampments; but there does not appear to be any other 
foundation for this idea. The Helix potnatia has not been found at Wroxeter or 
York, nor in many other parts of England and Wales, where the Romans built 
cities or had important military stations ; and in all probability this kind of snail 
was not knoivn to them, as another species {Helix lucortim) takes its place in 
central Italy. There is no better reason for the rumour which is mentioned by 
Montagu, that it was imported from Italy about the middle of the l6th century, 
either as an article of fooii or for medicinal purposes, and turned out in Surrey by 
a Mr. Howard, at Albury. It was well known to Lister, who wrote in 1678, as 
the largest of our native snails; and in all probability it is equally indigenous 
with Helix aspersa.” My own opinion strongly inclines to the view that this fine 
.snail is native to England. It is true I first saw it at Handborough, near Oxford, 
on the site of a Roman villa ; but its introduction there, though probable (it may 
have been brought from the southern counties, not from abroad), is not necessarily 
certain ; the region is near to the oolitic limestone, which at times bears an 
almost chalky character. No record of the species — away from the Roman site — 
is, however, known for the district so far as I am aware. 
