on birds in London and Suburbia.



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aviary and fight the birds, and Chiff-chaffs come with them, although

early in the year they can occasionally be seen calling from tall

tree-tops on commons. I have not seen or heard a Wood-wren

nearer than Wimbledon Common. The common wren is not rare,

and can be seen and heard in many suitable spots. Last year a

large brood successfully were reared in my own garden. The Gold-

crest comes through the suburbs and visits most gardens with small

shrubberies. It has often passed through my own, and I have often

heard it when I have not seen it in yews, etc., in churchyards and

cemeteries where conifers abound. I have seen Tree-creepers in

odd spots and in my own garden, but not a nuthatch nearer than

Mitcham district. No woodpeckers have I seen nearer than

Wimbledon, although the lesser spotted breed was seen by a friend

of mine in his grounds in my district about two years ago. His

father owned a spacious place, of course. Greater and Blue tits

are not rare and breed, but Marsh and Cole tits I have only observed

as passing birds, and have in winter along the railway line seen at

regular hours flocks of Long-tailed tits in South London. The

Greater and Lesser whitethroat visit most gardens where there is

fruit, and both species “ hung round ” my raspberries and currants

and soft pears this and last season. Both species I have seen well

in breeding along railway cuttings. The Blackcap warbler passes

through quickly in the spring, and usually comes back through the

outlying gardens when the small fruit crops are on. In 1915 and

1916 a pair evidently nested near a copse beside the line about

200 yards from my garden and twenty minutes from London Bridge

Station. I heard a cock singing both years throughout the season

of song, and in 1916 the bird would dash across to my garden and

compete with my old Pekin robin in a musical tournament. He

ate most of the riper raspberries in 1916 and occasionally perched

on the aviary wire. I tried to catch him, but had no time to

“rig up’’ a water-trap. Blackcaps usually ignore mealworms and

fruit as a bait, but will drink from a small, inconspicuous vessel

rather than search for water. Concerning small thrushes (eliminating

the Redbreast, which follows one like a dog and perches on one’s

heel or spade or seed or food pan, and is a general nuisance to guard

against when entering a flight or small greenhouse, where it may do



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