I30 



Next to mention the Finches — the Greenfinch, 

 whose song is certainly prettier than most people 

 imagine, but here and there interspersed with some 

 harsh notes, the ubiquitous Sparrow, the beautiful 

 Chafiinch or Bachelor-finch, so called from the fact 

 that the males separate from the females about the 

 time of the Autumn migration, I,innets, Bullfinches 

 and Yellow Ammers. 



Other birds we saw were Kingfishers, several 

 members of the Crow tribe. Plovers, making their 

 luelancholy noise incessautl}^ as we strolled home late 

 in the evening, and the Cuckoo, more often heard than 

 seen. We were very amused with one of these birds 

 which used to visit the trees in front of the house 

 every morning, calling its mate, getting hoarse 

 after every fifth call or so and then resting awhile to 

 begin a":ain. 



Swans on tbe ^bames. 



(Reprinted by pcrDiissioji from The S^irrey Comet). 



Not one of the least interesting features of 

 Thames life is the presence in its waters of the 

 numerous colony of swans, members of which, almost 

 from source to sea, add life and beauty to many 

 picturesque scenes on its banks ; 3'et comparatively few 

 are aware how these graceful birds ever came there or 

 what means are taken to preserve and care for them. 



Histor}^ hath it that the first pair was placed on 

 the river in the dim age when Richard I. ruled the 

 land, that valiant monarch having received them as a 

 present from a great lady in Cyprus — to which island 

 they were then almost solely indigenous — after one of 



