SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCAL WORK. 163 
‘ howl’s ’ nest in the pigeon coo,”''' and going up a ladder to ex- 
amine it more closely had found two eggs in the nest, and ranged 
around it rvere fourteen dead mice ! If that was the result of one 
evening’s foraging, we need no other proof that owls are worthy 
of encouragement and protection. 
I have not as yet heard Asnapper make any sound except 
the characteristic snap of his beak, and a low whining cry of 
eager pleasure at sight of his accustomed food. When he is full 
grown we shall no doubt be favoured with his loud melancholy 
hoot, a sound with which we are already very familiar, as we hear 
the voice of his relations at intervals during the night in the gar- 
dens and woods around the house. 
Eliza Brightwen. 
SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCAL WORK. 
IT must be evident to all, that the fauna and flora of the 
districts round London are undergoing a change, due to 
the growth of the metropolis. Species which formerly 
abounded are now rare, and many which now abound 
will probably become extinct or extremely scarce during the 
next fifty years. This applies to plants, birds, or insects, and it 
is hard to imagine a more interesting or profitable investigation 
to be undertaken by a local society than one relating to these 
changes. First of all, I would collect all the old records of 
plants, birds, or insects found in the vicinity, and enter them in 
a book, which should be accessible to all members. Endeavours 
should then be made to learn what species were still to be found 
in the district, and their rarity or abundance. This would 
involve research extending over years, and in fact really endless ; 
but in a few years the list might be brought to a sufficient state 
of completeness to give much of the information required. 
Then, by comparison of past records with those of the pre- 
sent, we should learn that certain species had become rarer or 
e.xtinct, while others remained in abundance. Years hence, our 
list would in its turn, be made the basis of comparison with a 
future list, and so, in this way, the changes in the natural history 
of the locality, indirectly due to human means, could be accu- 
rately estimated, while an interesting record of the past would be 
preserved. Nor is this all that would be gathered from this 
kind of research. The list of the present time would be found 
to contain some, perhaps many, species which did not previously 
occur here, or were not so common. Many foreign plants have 
more or less established themselves in the neighbourhood of 
London, and their spread from one locality to another should 
A local term for a pigeon house. 
