194 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



blackened brushwood in the squares, are dressed 

 once more in tenderest heart-refreshing green, 

 even in London we know that the birds have 

 returned from beyond the sea. Why should they 

 come to us here, when it would seem so much 

 more to their advantage, and more natural for 

 them to keep aloof from our dimmed atmosphere, 

 and the rude sounds of traffic, and the sight of 

 many people going to and fro? Are there no 

 silent green retreats left where the conditions are 

 better suited to their shy and delicate natures? 

 Yet no sooner is the spring come again than the 

 birds are with us. Not always apparent to the 

 eye, but everywhere their irrepressible gladness 

 betrays their proximity; and all London is ringed 

 round with a mist of melody, which presses on 

 us, ambitious of winning its way even to the 

 central heart of our citadel, creeping in, mist-like, 

 along gardens and tree-planted roads, clinging to 

 the greenery of parks and squares, and floating 

 above the dull noises of the town as clouds fleecy 

 and ethereal float above the earth. 



Among our spring visitors there is one which is 

 neither aerial in habits, nor a melodist, yet is 

 eminently attractive on account of its graceful 



