A SANCTUARY FOR WILD BIRDS. [To THE EDITOR OF THE
" SPECIATOR:1 Sin,—Your advocacy of sanctuaries for wild birds (would it had been for wild animals as well) in the Spectator of Novem- ber 13th will, I am sure, meet with general support from all lovers, and observers of the habits, of wild animals and birds. Some three years ago I wrote to you on this subject, pointing out the possibility of forming such sanctuaries for wild fowl, and mentioning Cromarty Firth and Poole Harbour as localities specially suited for that purpose. However, although you mentioned the idea as a novel and interesting one, no further progress was made. The idea of forming Wolmer Forest into a sanctuary for birds will not, of course, deal very seriously with the preservation of wild fowl, except in the resting-place Wolmer Pond would afford. It would, bow. ever, if formed, be an admission of the desirability of such sanctuaries being created, and might lead to others, such as I formerly pointed out, being ultimately created. Some years since I knew Wolmer very well,—indeed, I nearly became its purchaser, the late Mr. Edwin James, the Government Com- missioner, having almost completed the sale. At that time 1 was staying with the late Sir Charles Taylor at Hollycombe, and saw more than one brood of black-game in the Forest, or in land adjacent, so that since Gilbert White's day black- game, if then extinct, must have either been reintroduced or else must have then been still in existence. I mention this to show that with care there should be little difficulty in stocking Wolmer with such birds as may be suitable to
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