JOIKNAI, OF IIIK WILD KIRD INVESTIGATIOX SOCIETY. 



.BIROS NEAR LONDON. 



liv GLADYS M. TOWSEY. 



I'lierc are |)n>l)al)l\' few ])laces clu.se lo a 

 yreal eii\- wliere .so many kinds of liirds are 

 111 he seen as in RirlniKinci Park, and few 

 people who enj()\- ils pleasant walks realise the 

 weahh of hird life aljoiu thein. Here we are 

 in the midst of a nimiher ot beaut ilul ojien 

 s])ai'es. I II one place iit least the I'ark adjoins 

 the still mitouched coiintr\- : on one side are 

 the airv heiyiils and sheltered hirrh woods of 

 Wimbledon Common : on another the i^forse 

 bushes and rich green flats of I lam, and the 

 (iartleiis of Kew and Hampton t'oiiri arc 

 within a walk. 1 he Park itself, whose size 

 ensures (|uielude, for those who seek it, has 

 within it nian\ fine okl trees, well i^Town 

 thickets and |)lantalions, open s^'rassN- spaces, 

 with e\er \-ar\ing levels, am! two large ponds. 

 HuriniL;' the summer time many of the ancient 

 oaks lose their first foliaye owing to the 

 depredations of countless caterpillars : gnats, 

 large and small, sing in the shach' glades and 

 damp hollows : flies buzz among (he bracken. 

 Nowhere is the ground regularh' cultivated; 

 no orchards or strawberr\- beds tempt even the 

 enemies of birds to make war on them. Who 

 (an wonder then that birds choose lo dwell 

 in ii place free from foes, tnll of delicious food, 

 and fanned by sweet air from open spaces. 



An observer desirous of making a bird 

 score would do well lo enter the i'ark 1)\- wa\ 

 of I lam Common. Here, on a da\' in .Ma\ or 

 |iine, Willow Warblers are e\-er\-w here, 

 Whilethroats ll\' up from the gorse btishes. 

 Skylarks and .Meadow i'ipiis rise singing 

 trom till- groiuid. The song of the \'ellow 

 Hammer comes from the hawthorns, a Reed 

 Kuniing sits and chirps out ils spring notes 

 trom the r\ishes. And this is not all, for con- 

 stantly trom somewhere among the trees at 

 the edge of the Common the metallic crv of 

 the Wr\ neck rings out. I>rilliani Linnets Hit 



from jjlace to place, and further on near the 

 i'ark wall liulltinches feed among the bushes. 

 There is another bird that likes the hawthorns 

 best, the Red-I5acked Shrike, which ma\- 

 often be seen darting after the bumble bees. 

 .\11 day long the Swifts are wheeling over- 

 head. I'wd \ears ago the .Stonechat lived on 

 the Common, but since then its voice has been 

 silent. Perhaps it was driven away bv the 

 Red-Hacked Shrike, or fell a prey to the hard 

 winters. .Among these less common birds, 

 the familial' i'hrushes and Hlackbirds, the 

 Rooks, the Robins, and the Hedge Sparrows 

 tend to sing and nest almost unnoticed, but 

 lhe\' are here in ahimdance all the same. 



In the Park the scene changes, the trees 

 are larger and there are no gorse bushes, but 

 there are still hawthorns. Jackdaws and Star- 

 lings nest in holes in the old trees. Redstarts 

 are exceptionallv common, and sing their 

 songs from the oak' trees instead of from stone 

 walls as in the iioitli countrv. Among the 

 trees the screech of the Jay may often be 

 heard, and though it is apparently unmolested 

 it seems as shy as when it li\'es in preserved 

 wdods. A few Carrion Crows take up their 

 residence in the Park, but they are much 

 commoner by the river-side in the London dis- 

 ti'ict. Missel- Thru slus can nearlv alwavs be 

 seen in this part of the I'ark, and Chaffinches 



pink'-pink " among the tre(\s. It is among 

 the oaks anti beeches of the lower Park bor- 

 dering Llam C"ommon and i'etersham that 

 I-'lycatchers and Tits are most often seen. 

 Cliiffchaffs, (iartlen Warblers and Blackcaps 

 sing here loo. On the higher ground, 

 among the scatieicd half-dead oaks, 'Lree 

 Pipits always sing in the simimer time, and 

 anyone who watches cioseh' will see that the 

 sparrows that hop in and out of tlie lioles in 

 ilie s.ime trees ;M'e 'l"ree-.S|3arrows. In earh' 



