192 Observations on the birds of a Suburban garden.


young'. The chiffchaff also frequents the wood and the surrounding

gardens; its familiar note, as well as that of the species just named,

being heard right up to the end of June. Then there is the willow-

warbler, which is always in evidence here during the summer

months: indeed it occurs very generally in the district of Old

Dulwich, where trees are plentiful and the foliage attractive to

insect-hunting birds.


So far I have not been able actually to identify the garden-

warbler’s song in the immediate neighbourhood of the wood, though

I have heard it from among the bushes on the railway bank of the

South-Eastern line, close to the station, where also during last

spring—for the first time in my recollection—a blackcap sang con¬

tinuously in May. This latter migrant I have frequently heard in

the plantations adjacent to Dulwich wood.


In addition to chaffinches and greenfinches, which are both

fairly common in the neigbourhood, one occasionally comes across

vagrant flocks of brown linnets, while the reeling note of the lesser

redpole may often be distinguished as small parties of these diminu¬

tive birds fly over.


Of the tits, the great and the blue abound, but the cole tit is

less frequently met with, though it cannot be called scarce. We

have also the marsh tit, but its occurrence is rare, and I have not

myself seen it. Other visitors include the spotted flycatcher, which

I have observed usually in the same spot each year ; also the cuckoo.

The latter bird does not, I think, remain long in the neighbourhood,

since I have neither seen nor heard it later than the end of April.


In winter, one may occasionally observe small flocks of

redwings feeding in the adjacent meadows; they may be readily

distinguished from their larger relatives by the aid of a good

binocular.


A quiet walk through the winding paths of the wood will

generally reveal the presence of jays, which are regular residents

here, and particularly noisy at times ; while a keen ear may some¬

times detect the tapping of the woodpecker, a by no means un¬

familiar sound in the Dulwich district.


Though I have not seen the common “yaffle,” I had an

unexpected surprise in 1911, when, during a ramble one March



