Some London Birds 



be approached near enough to make quite sure 

 that it was the true wild turtle-dove, and not 

 the cream-coloured domestic one, of which a 

 few specimens have long been living and breed- 

 ing in St. James's Park, though the public do 

 not often see them. It is a pity that a larger 

 stock of this pretty creature is not kept up ; 

 but, at all events, it is gratifying to find that 

 our native bird is giving the parks a trial. 



Scarcely less conspicuous than the wood- 

 pigeon as a park denizen is the moorhen. In 

 spite of an eminent ornithologist's statement 

 that this bird seems unable to overcome the 

 inherent stealthiness of the rails — which, in the 

 country, is more or less true — the moorhen has 

 become very much domesticated with us in 

 town, and parades the turf with the assurance 

 of a pet bantam. I have even seen one take 

 food from a boy's hand, and all the pretty 

 domestic economy of the moorhen family may 

 be made out by a careful watcher. One may 

 see how the young birds, bred early in the 

 season, care for the tiny puffs of black down 

 which are their little brothers and sisters, even 

 before they are quite fledged themselves, and 

 the prudent way in which an old moorhen, 

 securing a big bit of bread, will feed a half- 

 grown chick with bits broken off it, and ulti- 

 mately leave it to negotiate the delicacy for 



I2 5 



