COUNTRY LIFE

Enclosure Records

Historians may rejoice to know that a general effort is being made in the counties to collect essential documents, especially those relating to enclosure, which belong by law to the Record Offices of the County Councils. By very active work Oxfordshire—to give a leading example—is now in possession of 180 out of a total of 200 enclosure orders. It is found that these are scattered about in all sorts of keeping, some in lawyers' offices, sonic mixed up with records_of _tithe in the possession of the Church of England, sonic among.the papers of Lords of the Manors. A certain number have been destroyed ; and the object of the campaign is to prevent such a catastrophe being repeated ; anyone who possesses them should transfer the documents to the. County Record Office. The documents are of the very stuff of history ; enclosure was vital in the social annals of England and in its aesthetic evolution :, the landless labourer and the hedgerow both emerged from it.

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Oral Tradition

The villager of today is becoming more keenly interested in the_ chronicles of his parish, perhaps because he feels that it will soon quite forget, in our • kaleidoscopic age, its oral tradition, which has been amazingly retentive. Did not an Oxfordshire annalist some few years ago discover some vivid. tales of the murder of Amy Robsart that had been directly. handed down ? Lecturers' on behalf of the Workers' Education Association and indeed of women's institutes have tapped some amazing traditional stories, of political movements such as the Enclosure,Acts, as well as of more startling and dramatic events in this neighbourhood and that. An admirable practice in some women's institutes is to devote an evening to the tale of such oral traditions. The doctunents now being sought out,with new energy are chiefly the enclosure awards, accom- panied. by. maps ;but sonic of the most interesting details appear, when the claims of local dwellers as well as the awards of the commissioners can be discovered.

* *. * The E, arliest Blossom What is the earliest. flower of the year ? I would put in a claim. for the lungwort, but should have to make some special rules for the exclusion of certain other claimants, especially bushes. The laurustinus and the primulas have hardly ceased blooming and we always get plenty of December flowers-from bushes that flower before they leaf, like the yellow jessamine, Viburnum fragrans, Chimonanthus, and even witch-hazel. Some of these almost belong to winter and their blossoms do not suggest spring. The lungwort, with its wealth of leaf and juicy flower heads, belongs more properly to spring, and is a real addition to the border. The pink variety is, I think, rather earlier than the white or blue. It was blooming freely this last Christmas Day. The season, of course, is exceptional. As well as other winter flowers, pirus japonica and Meintaid, that incomparable climber, greeted Christmas. The lungwort was humble beside them but more suggestive of spring. a 'a

An Urban Bird

Since a very tentative suggestion was made that Finchley might be derived from Finch—for the bird is singularly frequent there—a succession of letters has reached inc from garden Observers in that salubrious district. Three residents describe the apparance of a greater' spotted woodpecker ; and one correspondent gives a very pleasing account of the manoeuvres of the great bird in its attack on a lump of fat suspended for the tits. It was successful in balancing itself on the fat which it devoured at a great rate. The peculiar skill of the woodpecker depends a good deal on the use of the tail; 'which is pressed tightly against any vertical trunk where the woodpecker rests. It is rather less well Poised on a horizontal than a vertical plane; but it is as fond of extracting ants front a lawn as any insect from bark. To persuade it to cling to a swinging morsel of fat is something Of a feat. The bird; like the Canadian woodpecker, seems to be acquiring an 'affection for urban conditions. It has certainly multiplied- much of years, perhaps because of its adaptability to the conditions of a built-up area. A Vain Robin

An Oxfordshire cottage is visited daily by a robin which, in spite of its fondness for the interior, is a little afraid of the inmate ; but as soon as the coast is clear the robin enters. The chief attraction seems to be a long mirror that goes down to the ground. The robin finds it irresistible, as signs rather than direct observation make evident. Is the robin vain and in love with its own reflection, or does he imagine that he meets some mysterious 'companion ? In a cottage a few yards away another robin prefers the back of a particular arm-chair. A third robin in another county is attracted by a gas-fire, before which it warms itself luxuriously, fluffing out its feathers and half opening its wings. What a faculty for winter the bird has ! The small, bright song has been almost continuous throughout the month. The thrushes had a period of silence, but the warmer weather has set them singing again with all the gusto proper to spring. * *

The Finest Nose?

In a controversy on the subject of dogs and especially on their master attribute, which is the sense of smell, an owner of dachshunds claimed the laurels for this breed. Whether they have acuter noses than others I do not know but I doubt whether any other dog consciously uses its nose, so persistently. They are interested in the smell, even of insects. One dachshund of my acquaintance is apt to make its nose sore, so close it keeps it to the ground, often in the pursuit of slugs. It will take the overnight line of a slug as a hound of a fox. A spaniel, as contrasted with a retriever, has this habit of continuous and conscious use of the nose. It is perhaps surprising that dogs, as contrasted with cats,' do not apparently perceive the scent of plants, though I have known a spaniel that was arrested by the smell of a' ribcs ; and the same dog would sniff at the leaves it desired to eat, especially goose-grass, which was its favourite medicine.

Honey Research

Has this Government's experience in Palestine influenced its decision to make England a land flowing with milk and honey ? Whatever the stimulus, it has just decided to pay the whole expenses of sonic research work on bees and honey that was started some few years ago at Rothamsted where a most charming apiary is in being, apart from the laboratory where the chemical research-workers are busy. English beekeepers, who had a bad season, arc now relieved of the need to subscribe to the work. Recent investigations into the nature of the actual honey tend to show that there is honey and honey. One sort differs front another immensely in such points as granulation ; and in certain regards the famous heather honey is as different from lime or apple honey as chalk from cheese ; but all are probably the most wholesome form in which sugar can be consumed. The physiology of honey is under especial investigation. The industry should be increased and benefited by the new researches ; and the bees, of course, are twice blessed. They harvest the unharvested flowers and set the fruit and seed.

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A Beetle-Trapper

The little owl is altogether a carnivore save for an occasional nibble at a seed-case. According to a very interesting analysis of its history it was introduced into England very nearly 100 years ago (by Waterton) ; but for myself I remember very well its release by Lord Lilford (near whom I lived at the time) and its astonishingly rapid multiplication in that district of Northampton and Huntingdon. We called it " the little Spanish owl " ; but Waterton's owls were brought from Italy, where farmers like the birds. That well over seventy per cent, of its food consists of small mammals, especially mice, and insects, especially beetles, is now an established fact ; but its enemies have one argument not yet answered. It was proved, on the famous Courthope estate, that the little owls there killed young birds, not for food, but as traps for burying beetles. Is this strange, and most intellectual, habit, general or is it not ? The answer lies not with that king of anatomical ornithologists, Mr. Confine, but with field observers, here, there and everywhere.

W. BEACII TII031A8.