SELBORNIA.WA 105 
able to give a sample which will at least exhibit the composition 
of one of her works. 
Preservation of Wild Flowers. — “ In answer to inquiries 
as to whether the Western Counties Committee for the preser- 
vation of ferns and wild flowers intend to employ officers in plain 
clothes to arrest little boys and girls found carrying bunches of 
wild flowers, we are authorised to state that the object of the 
Committee and of the Selborne Society is twofold : (i) To use 
drastic measures where such destruction is perpetrated as was 
proved in the case punished by the Won ford magistrates a 
little while ago ; and (2) to try and educate children and others, 
persuading them that it is to their interest to protect these gifts 
of Nature designed by Providence for the joy of all beholders, 
whether rich or poor. Mr. John Burns, from the House of 
Commons, April 7, 1900, wrote Mr. J. W. Richards : ‘ I asso- 
ciate myself entirely with you in your desire to stop the ruthless 
destruction of the hedgerows and wildflowers from lanes and 
woodlands. The best way to prevent this is by the stimulation 
of the best latent feeling in the locality.’ 
\ ptimrose by a river’s brim, 
A yellow primrose was to him. 
And it was nothing more. 
“ Mr. Burns has put the teaching of the Selborne Society and 
the Devonshire Association into a nutshell .” — Western Daily 
M ercury. 
Wild Nature Won by Kindness. — Even the common 
experiences of the amateur naturalist show how easily the 
confidence of animals may be won, even when an estrange- 
ment of many generations has to be overcome. In whatever 
area, large or small, animals are guaranteed protection they are 
quick to take advantage of the fact, and soon become familiar. 
In Mr. C. J. Cornish’s volume, “The Naturalist on the 
Thames,” there is a chapter which affords an admirable illustra- 
tion of this. It is that in which he describes the results of the 
measures taken by the Thames Conservancy and by the various 
County Councils to protect bird life above the tideway. They 
are of the happiest kind. 
The water-hen are so numerous that at Nuneham Lock they 
run into the cottages, and at other locks the men complain they 
eat all their winter cabbages. As many as forty at a time have 
been counted on the meadows. Mr. Harcourt has also estab- 
lished a wild-duck colony on and about the island at Nuneham. 
The island has a pond in the centre, with sedges and ancient 
willows and tall trees round. There the really wild ducks join 
the home-bred ones in winter. Lower down, the scene on late 
summer days is almost like a poultry-yard, with water-fowl and 
wild pigeons substituted for ducks and chickens. Young water- 
hens of all sizes pipe and flutter in the reeds, and feed on the 
