Swans and 'Planes
The defenders of our realm have graciously allowed them- selves the luxury of some regard for our birds and our sanctuaries. The Council for the Preservation of Rural England, which had been beneficently active in the campaign, has been officially informed that the bombing 'planes will not practise their art in the immediate neighbourhood of Abbotsbury, where the swans come from. That marvellous haven behind the Chesil Beach is incomparable, in history as in present fact. Thousands of swans have bred there, at any rate from the days of Henry VIII. The mere in which the tern dip like swallows on a river, the banks of reeds that have attracted even that rara avis, the marsh warbler, the old duck decoy, the plants, the seclusion of the place itself have an amalgamation of virtues entirely their own. There is no place like it. It excels even those attractive vleis near Cape Town where flamingo and pelican gather in hundreds. To break its quietude would be " a sin in the soul."
Previous page
