78 
NATURE NOTES. 
Bill, which would probably have been passed, to the detriment of all London, if 
it had not been strenuously opposed by a small knot of enlightened Londoners, 
among whom Mr. Burns and Mr. Labouchere fought in the fighting line.” 
“ GrOOd. News for the Birds.” — I read with interest the article in your 
last issue bearing this title. The writer who suggests that every order is in due 
course printed and put on sale after the fashion of parliamentary papers, will, per- 
haps, be surprised to learn that the latest order issued by the Queen’s Printers 
(Eyre and Spottiswoode) bears date September 7, 1895. convenience of 
those who are interested in this matter, the Society for the Protection of Birds has 
printed in full the orders issued up to and including January 29, 1896, as an 
appendix to their last report, and are now issuing this with the eleven orders since 
granted, as a special leaflet. I should be pleased to send a copy to any of my 
fellow Selbornians who might desire to consult it. 
Hillcrest, Redhill, Surrey. Margaretta L. Lemon. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Where to Hear the Nightingale (p. 59I. — I have heard a nightingale 
in Highgate Woods ; they have been frequently heard at Eltham and Chislehurst, 
and were plentiful near Croydon ; but every year they are leaving their haunts 
near London, on account of the clearing away of copses. I would recommend 
J. Hudsworth to go a few miles south from London, say by the S.E. Railway, 
early in May, and he will find them very abundant throughout the whole district 
from Reigate to Godaiming. Between Reigate and Dorking on a still, mild 
night, at the above time of year, there are villages, amongst which may be 
specially mentioned Brockham Green, near Betchworth Station, where they may 
be heard in large numbers on all sides, as far as the ear can reach. They are so 
tame that, by approaching cautiously, it is easy to stand by the very bush in 
which one is singing, and watch the bird in clear outline against the sky. Many 
people miss hearing nightingales through going out too early for that purpose. 
They sing all day, except for a short time at mid-day, and through the whole 
night, but invariably stop to feed in the twilight of evening and early morning. 
They sing from the middle of April to the middle of June, but are at their best a 
fortnight or three weeks after their arrival. 
Edw. W. Waite. 
I can confidently recommend Wimbledon Common as a sure find for night 
ingales at all times during the season. There are thick woods within a few yards 
of the tall flagstaff which always shelter a few pairs every summer, and sometimes 
— last year for instance — a brood is successfully reared. I say “ sometimes ” 
advisedly because the Common is simply overrun with marauders, and it has t<> 
be a well hidden nest indeed to escape them. The thickets down by Beverley 
Brook, close to the Robin Hood Gate of Richmond Park, also hold a good many 
nightingales. 
W. N. Rushen. 
Bishop’s Wood Avenue is now the nearest place that I know of, about five 
minutes’ walk or so from Hampstead Heath. Hampstead Heath itself on the 
west side, close to the Leg-of-Mutton Pond, was, before the undergrowth was 
cleared from under the hawthorns, a favourite place for those chief of songsters. 
James E. Whiting. 
Gull and Sparrows. — One Sunday, when walking in .St. James’s Park, 
my attention was drawn to a sea-gull, which, with menacing attitude, and out- 
stretched neck, was moving in the direction of a number of sparrows. My atten- 
tion was for a moment withdrawn, when my companion touched me and said : 
“ Look ! ” and there was the gull, with a sparrow in its beak, making quickly for 
the water. The biid then deliberately drowned the sparrow, di|)]>ing it in, over 
and over again, till the poor little body hung limply down with every vestige or 
