262. BIRDS IN LONDON 



running iu various directions, and on most days 

 nuuiy persons may be seen on them, driving, 

 riding, cycling, and walking ; yet they all may 

 be got away from, and long hours spent out of 

 siaiit and hearino- of human beino's, in the 

 most perfect solitude. This is the greatest 

 attraction of Eichmond Park, and its best 

 virtue. Strange to say, this very quietude and 

 solitariness produce a disturbing effect on many 

 Londoners. Alas for those who have so long 

 existed apart from Nature as to have become 

 wholly estranged, who are troubled in mind at 

 her silence and austerity ! To others this green 

 desert is London's best possession, a sacred place 

 where those who have lost their strength may 

 find it again, and those who are distempered 

 may recover their health. 



The largeness and quietness of Eichmond, 

 its old oak woods, water, and wide open spaces, 

 and its proximity to the river, have given it 

 not only an abundant Ijut a nobler wild bird 

 life than is found at any other point so near to 

 the centre of the metro])olis. Here all the best 

 son^rsters, iiicln(li]i<i' tlie nii>'htim?ale, may be 

 heard. Wild duck ;nid teal and a few other 

 water birds, rear their young in llic ponds. ( )ur 



