THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 



height winging their way over London, too high to be 

 identified. The Mute Swan {Cygnus olor) is also a 

 dweller on many of our ornamental waters, and numbers 

 live in a semi-wild state on the Thames and elsewhere. 

 A pair last year (1908) hatched a brood on the Paddington 

 Canal near Willesden. Eton College enjoys the privilege 

 of keeping Swans on the Thames, which mostly belongs to 

 the Crown. The bird is of great historical interest to 

 Londoners, and it enters largely into the Royal and 

 civic life of the Metropolis. 



Finally, mention may be made here of the many 

 exotic species of Wild-fowl that live in more or less freedom 

 upon or near the various ornamental sheets of water in 

 the Metropolis. They are very interesting, and many of 

 them are very beautiful birds ; but their life-history is 

 quite beyond the scope of the wild bird-life of London. 



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