The Woodpigeon or Bingdovc. 45 



Several times, too, we have seen as many as ten 

 Woodpigeons together, feeding on the piece of grass 

 under Lord Beaconsfield's statue opposite West- 

 minster Abbey. There they seem uite at home, 

 taking no notice of people or traffic, so that one can 

 stand within a yard of the birds and watch their 

 graceful movements ; moreover, the " Kodak " 

 may be brought to bear upon them, and thus, in 

 London, this shy and wary bird may be portrayed 

 from life ! It is a lovely sight to watch them fly 

 down, one after the other, from a plane tree in the 

 precincts of the old Abbey. Descending with a head- 

 long swoop until within about two feet from the 

 grass, they suddenly check this rapid motion by 

 raising their heads and spreading wide their wings 

 and tails, and thus they drop gently to the ground. 

 We would observe that in this downward flight the 

 bird takes advantage, as it were, of every feather, 

 the tail being spread out like a fan; and every 

 marking on the feathers is plainly visible, while a 

 bar of white feathers is conspicuous across the out- 

 spread wing. As we watch them when they have 

 alighted on the ground, we can but say that their 

 movements are quite as graceful as in the air. They 

 strut about, daintily nodding their heads backwards 

 and forwards, and every now and then they pick some- 

 thing from the grass, keeping an eye all the time on 



