88 
X Arc RE XOTES 
was the extraordinary way in which certain species were grouped 
in separate patches. It will be noticed that a fair proportion of 
the species enumerated are more or less common in the eastern 
counties, and I think it may be safely assumed that the seeds 
from which they sprang came with the sand, shingle and other 
materials, and that these were brought from one or another of 
those counties by the Great Eastern Railway, which serves the 
whole district. A most astonishing fact has yet to be told. 
When I paid an expectant visit to the estate in 1906, not a 
vestige of the unusual plants was to be seen. The jungle, corn- 
cockles, cudweed and belt of goosefoot had absolutely vanished, 
and their places were occupied by grass, a few common small 
weeds, docks and thistles. Why this should be I am at a loss 
to understand, but conjecture that, in the interval between the 
dying-down of the plants and the time when the seeds they had 
dropped should have germinated, the grass and local weeds 
spread over the whole available surface, preventing such 
germination and smothering any growths which may have been 
able to start. Perhaps some competent botanist among readers 
of Nature Notes may be able to suggest a likelier explanation. 
SELBORNIANA. 
Legislation on the Importation of Birds.- — We have 
received the following letter from Mr. A. Holte Macpherson. 
“ In the note on this subject in the April number, reference is 
made to the fact that in the opinion of some the retail sale of 
feathers should be dealt with. It is interesting in this con- 
nection to turn to the law of the State of New York: — “Wild 
birds other than English sparrows (and certain other birds 
named) shall not be taken or possessed at any time, dead 
or alive, except under the authority of a certificate issued under 
this Act. No part of the plumage, skin or body of any bird 
protected by this section, shall be sold or had in possession for 
sale. The provisions of this section shall not apply to game 
birds, for which an open season is provided in this Act.” 
(Section 33, Forest, Fish and Game Law of 1900, as amended 
by chap. 443, Laws of 1903). This is possibly too compre- 
hensive to serve at present as a model for similar legislation 
in this country, but is admirably clear and simple in form. 
Trees, Old and New. — An interesting lecture was delivered 
on March 19 at Carpenters’ Hall, by Professor Somerville, of 
Oxford, in which, with the aid of a magnificent series of lantern 
slides, he classified our British-grown trees into those truly 
native and those of human introduction in ancient and modern 
