SELBORN/ANA. 
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and the Swedish painter, Bruno Liljefors, as well as a large and valuable series of 
studies by Mr. Ruskin, reproduced here by the permission of the University of 
Oxford, whose property they are. Suitable letterpress is supplied by Mr. A. 
Trevor-Battye. 
Mr. W. J. Stillman has published a delightful account of two squirrels, Billy 
and Hans. We have not, however, received a copy for review, and space will 
not permit us to notice books not sent for the purpose. 
SELBORNIANA. 
Cats and Young Birds (p. 13S).— The most simple way of protecting 
nests from cats is to fix wire-netting a few feet from the ground round the 
trunks of the most attractive trees. The coarsest netting is strong enough, and 
allows the autumn leaves to fall through best. The ordinary width of wire 
is sufficient, and by pleating and tying one edge close round the trunk, the 
other edge can be spread out like a basin and fastened here and there to the 
lowest branches. No cat can then climb the tree. I did this two or three years 
back to three trees, in two of which nests had been disturbed. Since then, out 
of sheer perversity, no birds have built until now, when I am pleased to find a 
pair of blackbirds have been for some days busily carrying food to one of the 
trees. As it is so late they must either have their second or third brood, or 
have been disturbed elsewhere. 
Hampstead. E. K. Hitchcock. 
As I suffer from the cat nuisance I have adopted a simple protection which 
has saved the lives of hundreds of birds. After placing my homes up among 
the branches I fix wire-netting firmly round the trunk, the outer edge projecting 
outwards on the same principle as an open umbrella. The cats run up but meet 
with this obstruction and come down again. I have quite recently saved thus two 
broods of redstarts and a brood of flycatchers. These and many others this 
season owe their lives, and the lives of their young, probably, to this little act of 
love for the birds. 
James Hiam. 
The “ Zigzag ” at Selhorne. — Mr. G. Maxwell writes from Selborne to 
know whether any members of the Selborne .Society will contribute towards the 
repair of the “Zigz^.” A sum of about ;^’25 is required, about half of which 
has been promised. Donations may be sent to Mr. Alaxwell as above. 
The Royal Buckhounds. — In the House of Commons on July 17, Mr. 
MacNeill asked the Home Secretary whether his attention had been directed to a 
Resolution passed at the annual meeting of the Humanitarian League last April, 
deprecating the hunting of tame deer as a practice viewed w'ith abhorrence by a 
l.-irge number of Her Majesty’s subjects, and praying that the Jubilee might be 
signalised by the discontinuance of the Royal Buckhounds ; whether he was 
aware that in December, 1896, a letter was addressed to the Marquess of 
Salisbury, signed, among others, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, expressing 
regret that another season of tame deer hunting by Her Majesty’s Buckhounds 
had been inaugurated ; and whether, in view of the strong objections which had 
now for several years been finding utterance against the continuance of tame deer 
hunting, any steps woul be taken for the abolition of the Royal Buckhounds. 
Mr. J. Codings (in the absence of the Home Secretary) said : — The answer to the 
first two paragraphs is in the affirmative. In reply to the third paragraph, the 
Secretary of State can only say that there are as many people who desire the 
maintenance of the Royal Buckhounds as there are who desire to abolish them. 
The Protection of Birds. — It is a matter of regret to us that the con- 
stant and growing demands on our space do not allow us to record as fully as 
might be wished the work of those who labour in the same direction as our- 
selves. This is especially the case with regard to the admirable Society for the 
Protection of Birds, whose reports and publications we duly receive, and are 
always hoping to notice. The following extracts from the Report for 1896 may 
serve to show that we have not overlooked the excellent work the Society is 
doing. 
