BIRDS FOB LONDON 317 



birds, although not shy, and they would certainly 

 be more beautiful and vigorous and give us 

 more pleasure than their pinioned relations. 

 Coots hatched and reared by the moorhens 

 would give us another wild bird well suited to 

 thrive in the park lakes ; and I will venture to 

 add that we might even get the great crested 

 grebe, by placing its eggs in the dabchicks' 

 nests. The breeding habits of these two species 

 are identical ; they differ very considerably in 

 size, but there is not so great a disparity between 

 little grebe and great grebe as there is between 

 the cuckoo and its foster-parent. 



Of small birds, or songsters, it will not be 

 necessary to mention more than a few of the 

 species which might be introduced with ad- 

 vantage, since little can be done so long as the 

 bird-killing cats are free of the parks, and little 

 will need to be done once the cats are excluded. 

 Such species as the robin and hedge-sparrow 

 require protection when breeding ; they are now 

 dying out for want of it, and will undoubtedly 

 increase again whenever the park authorities 

 think proper to give it. 



The quickest and most effective plan to add 



