EAST LONDON 197 



the way of providing- tlie birds with proper 

 refuges in and round the islands ; but there is 

 no lake in London more used for boating exer- 

 cise than that of Battersea, yet it has there been 

 found possible to give proper accommodation 

 and protection to the water-birds in the breeding 

 season. 



It is melancholy to find that the songsters 

 have been decreasing in this park for some years 

 past. Birds are perhaps of more value here than 

 in any other metropolitan open space. Thrushes, 

 blackbirds, and chaffinches are still not un- 

 common. The robin, titmouse, and dunnock 

 are becoming rare. The greenfinch and (I 

 believe) the wren have vanished. The decrease 

 of the chaffinch is most regretted by the East- 

 enders, who have an extraordinary admiration 

 for that bird. Bird fanciers are very numerous 

 in the East, and the gay chaffinch is to them 

 the first of the feathered race ; in fact, it may 

 be said that he is first and the others nowhere. 

 Now the value of the chaffinch to the bird 

 fancier depends on his song — on the bird's readi- 

 ness to sing when his music is wanted, and the 

 qualities of his notes, their strength, spirit, and 

 wildness. In the captive state the song 



