BIRDS IN LONDON 339 



unusual visitors from its position near the mouth of a wide 

 tidal river. When the north-westerly gales overfill the 

 North Sea and drive up the high tides in the Thames, there 

 is always a chance of finding some unusual wanderer among 

 the gulls between Lambeth and Blackfriars, within sight of 

 the trains rumbling in to Charing Cross. Last autumn a 

 flock of razorbills were watched by curious Londoners strug- 

 gling and diving in the tide, equally frightened of the noise 

 of the huge double-decked tramcars on the Embankment and 

 of the dark arch of Blackfriars Bridge, to which the strong 

 ebb was sweeping them. More recently, a dark sea-duck 

 was seen skimming straight and low up the river under 

 Westminster Bridge, and settling on the water in a quiet 

 spot just opposite the House of Lords. As far as could be 

 seen from the gardens further along the river-bank, it was 

 a female scoter. Close by a pair of mallard were quietly 

 paddling and preening themselves in the shallow water at 

 the mouth of one of the old buried rivers, which now flow 

 through culverts into the Thames. Such are some of the 

 unexpected windfalls among the wild birds of London ; and 

 they add the perpetual anticipation of novelty to the constant 

 interest of the life of the residents and regular visitors. 



A DARK SKA-DUCK . . . FEMALE SCOTER 



