INTRODUCTION 
streets of timber houses, of which almost the last surviving 
relic stands in Holborn to-day ; Woodcocks used formerly 
to be shot near Piccadilly ; and the usual bird fauna of the 
fields must once have occupied situations which are now 
nothing but houses. Even the historical study of the 
ornithology of London is a most fascinating one, deserv- 
ing a volume to itself. In modern days the casual bird 
visitors to the Metropolis are many and interesting ; 
that is to say, the examples that are observed or obtained. 
That old veteran ornithologist the late Herr Gatke used 
to say that he would gladly exchange all his wonderful 
collection of rare birds, obtained during a lifetime spent 
on the tiny island of Heligoland (many times smaller 
than London), for those that had passed over it unrecorded 
and unobserved. ‘The same might be said of London. 
We are constantly getting evidence of the birds that 
pass over the vast city, which indicates amazing possi- 
bilities if our bird pilgrims could only be recognised. 
The harvest is great, but unfortunately the labourers are 
few. Wewant more intelligent observers of the Bird-life 
of London, and the present little book has been written 
largely with the purpose of winning recruits and stimu- 
lating work in this direction. London already can claim 
not a few remarkable records, which will be found in the 
analytical table appended to this chapter. Some of 
these occurrences are simply astonishing. ‘There was, 
for instance, the Puffin that flew through a window in 
Brook Street—curiously enough, the residence then 
occupied by the late Lord Lilford, President of the Orni- 
thologists’ Union, and a great lover of birds. ‘The Fork- 
tailed Petrel and the Stormy Petrel have been captured in 
the London streets, attracted by the lights and pools of 
water; the Guillemot has come up the Thames to 
London; the Alpine Swift has been shot at Finchley ; 
the Osprey has visited Richmond Park. Commoner 
species are repeatedly turning up in the least likely 
3 
