NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
139
This meeting was opened by Dr. Wager referring to the death of the
Rev. Ashington Bullen, their honorary secretary, and moved that a vote
of condolence be sent to Mrs. Bullen in her bereavement.
Mr. Claridge Druce referred to the national trust and to the work it
has accomplished in purchasing land for the preservation in a natural state
as a sanctuary for our native fauna and flora. Several delegates spoke in
favour of it, and suggested that the scope of the trust be extended in the
interests of geology as well as in preserving our native wild animals and
plants.
[At the meeting of the Club on October 26th, at which this report was
read, Mr. W. Cole remarked that it was unfair to charge the evil of destroy-
ing wild plants upon children. He referred to some recent letters in
Nature in which the probable approaching destruction of two rare British
plants—the Cheddar Pink (Dianthus caesius) and Arabis stricta—was
discussed by several eminent botanists. Only collectors of botanical
specimens for Herbaria would be likely to gather these. Mr. Cole referred
to the experiments of his sister Miss Jane E. Cole, in growing the Dianthus
from seed. Simply hundreds of plants had been obtained in two
years. Why then seek to destroy the few wild ones still lingering in
Britain ? He strongly advocated the growing of wild plants from seed, an
occupation which amateur botanists would find most delightful and
instructive.]
Some dissatisfaction was expressed as to the work done at the con-
ference, it being thought by some delegates that much important time was
wasted and that the benefits derivable by having delegates from all parts
were not sufficiently utilised.
Mr. W. Mark Webb, the Honorary Secretary of the Selbourne Society,
delivered an interesting lecture on "The Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary,"
and illustrated his remarks by a series of lantern slides and specimens of
the nesting boxes used there, which he said were fully taken advantage of
by the feathered inhabitants.
NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
BIRDS.
Owl Hunting in Day-time.—Mr. E.E. Turner, of Coggeshall,
writes :—"On the afternoon of 4 February 1912, in broad day-
light, at 3.30 p.m., when the ground was covered with snow,
and the temperature very low, a Barn Owl came from just over
the hedge in the parish of Feering, and as it passed a few yards
over my head, a mouse could be seen in its claws ; it then crossed
the corner of a field to a large elm tree, where it, no doubt,
devoured its quarry. As there had been a blizzard during the
previous night, one could not but think that the bird had gone