FLOCKS OF BIRDS 27 



The thick hedge mentioned is a favourite resort of 

 blackbirds, and on a warm May morning, after a shower 

 they are extremely fond of a shower half-a-dozen may 

 be heard at once whistling in the elms. They use the 

 elms here because there are not many oaks ; the oak is 

 the blackbird's favourite song-tree. There was one one 

 day whistling with all his might on the lower branch of 

 an elm, at the very roadside, and just above him a wood- 

 pigeon was perched. A pair of turtle-doves built in the 

 same hedge one spring, and while resting on the gate by 

 the roadside their " coo-coo " mingled with the song of 

 the nightingale and thrush, the blackbird's whistle, the 

 chiff-chaffs " chip-chip," the willow-wren's pleading voice, 

 and the rustle of green corn as the wind came rushing 

 (as it always does to a gateway). 



Goldfinches come by occasionally, not often, but 

 still they do come. The rarest bird seems to be the 

 bullfinch. I have only seen bullfinches three or four 

 times in three seasons, and then only a pair. Now, 

 this is worthy a note, as illustrating what I have often 

 ventured to say about the habitat of birds being so often 

 local, for if judged by observation here the bullfinch 

 would be said to be a scarce bird by London. But it 

 has been stated upon the best authority that only a few 

 miles distant, and still nearer town, they are common. 



The road now becomes bordered by elms on either 

 side, forming an irregular avenue. Almost every elm 

 in spring has its chaffinch loudly challenging. The 

 birdcatchers are aware that it is a frequented resort, 

 and on Sunday mornings four or five of them used to 

 be seen in the course of a mile, each with a call bird 

 in a partly darkened cage, a stuffed dummy, and limed 

 twigs. In the cornfields on either hand wood-pigeons 

 are numerous in spring and autumn. Up to April they 



