NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
37 
SELBORNIANA. 
The “Aigrette.” — Miss S. I. Maude has long wished that some one would 
invent an “ aigrette ” to take the place of the osprey-plume in a lady’s bonnet. 
She thinks it just possible that some women may be persuaded to give up tear- 
ing the plume from a living bird’s head if a substitute of coloured wire be offered 
them, and she is trying to contrive such a substitute, and may be communicated 
with, by letter only, at 125, Earl’s Court Road, S.W. 
Protection of Birds. — Readers of Nature Notes will be glad to hear 
that the General Purposes Committee of the County Council of Cumberland 
have agreed to recommend to the Council, if the goodwill of the landed pro- 
prietors be obtained, that certain well-defined nesting areas shall be protected 
along the Solway, where many of the rarer sea-gulls breed ; and also have deter- 
mined to schedule the eggs of the following birds throughout the county for 
protection : bull finch, buzzard, dotterel, dipper, gold finch, kingfisher, kestrel, 
merlin, owls, pied flycatcher, peregrine, woodpeckers. I have 'given these in 
alphabetical order, and of course our County Council may alter the list ; but it 
may be a guide to other committees who are interested in the preservation of 
birds of use and beauty for future England. 
H. D. Rawnsley. 
Gold Fish. — Should it be regarded by Selbornians as cruelty to keep gold 
fish in a bowl of water without supplying them with food ? I have two in a 
bowl, but if I give them ants’ eggs, or food of any kind, the water very soon 
becomes misty and b.ad, and the fish rise to the top of the water and “make 
bubbles.” If I give them no food, the water remains clear and fresh for some 
days and the fish do not come to the surface. They appear none the worse, and 
seem to have little inclination for food. Arc they capable of feeling, or of 
suffering from hunger or weakness, or in any other way ? Does the water itself 
contain sufficient nouri.shment for their requirements? Can we suppose that 
“ cold-blooded creatures ” are incapable of feeling pain of any kind ? 
C. E. C. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Kingfisher mobbed by Starlings. — One cold day last month I was 
walking by the river when I noticed a kingfisher fishing from the stump of a 
decayed willow tree ; when he had caught a fish a small flock of starlings swept 
down on him and a most exciting chase began. The kingfisher flew away 
low over the water, uttering a shrill cry of alarm ; the starlings followed and 
rapidly gained on him, then there was a slight splash and I could only see the 
starlings flying forward, then again I saw the kingfisher, but this time flying 
quickly back ; so, by diving, the kingfisher escaped. I do not expect the star- 
lings had any intention of attacking the kingfisher, but merely wished to capture 
the fish. I may say that the recent great floods in this neighbourhood seem to 
have greatly interfered with the kingfishers, which are much less frequently se.en 
now. 
Staines. Graham \V. Kerr. 
Tortoise (p. 17). — Having possessed my present tortoise for thirteen years, 
my experience may help your correspondent. Our garden is 24 yards by 7 ; grass 
plot in the centre, and a few evergreens round the walls. I do not consider the 
latter sufficient protection for “ Thomas ” from the frost, or even rain in summer, 
so always have a shelter made for him in the sunniest corner — a raised cinder bed 
over which I put boards and oil-cloth, blocking one end and filling with hay. 
Through September I always look to see if he is there at night, and in October 
take him in for good. I then put him in a box of hay or shavings (a layer of 
cinders at the bottom) and place it in a dark corner in the morning room. The 
