NEW SANCTUARIES.
. Happily our sanctuaries are growing very fast, and some of the newest are peculiarly interesting. One is Skokholm, a queer but not unattractive island off the mouth of Milford Harbour. Both this and its neighbour Skomer have been so thoroughly cut off from the mainland that, as in the rather larger island of Australia, peculiar varieties, if not species, have been developed. On these South.Welsh islands a variety . of rodent was discovered with certain' unknown peculiarities,
that may be compared with.the example of the .St. Kilda Wren. The isolation of all such islands is now permanently , ended by the coming of the motor boat ; and artificial pro- tection has become a necessity. The rabbit trappers, foe example, have discovered Skokholm and have killed quantities of birds as well as rabbits with their infernal steel traps< Bird protection matters most ; but we trust that the keepen of sanctuaries for birds will not wholly forget the mammals, We need mammal, flower, and insect reserves as well as bird sanctuaries.
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