216 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



But meanwhile they had strayed farther 

 west still, for one turned up in England ; it 

 was not an escaped bird, for the few that had 

 reached England alive had all been through 

 my hands, and were safe in the London Zoo. 

 One of these has only lately died ; he lived in 

 the pond close by the Fellows' Refreshment 

 Room for more than ten years, and I looked 

 on him as quite an old friend. 



I found that most of these emigrants were 

 young birds, and I suppose that they had 

 simply lost their way ; but perhaps they have 

 founded a new colony in Siberia further west 

 than where they used to live. They could 

 not very well settle down in India altogether, 

 because India swarms with tree-ducks queer 

 birds which roost and make their nests in trees, 

 and whistle instead of quacking. These tree- 

 ducks are very quarrelsome and jealous of 

 strangers, and any new duck which wanted to 

 settle in Indian waters would have a bad 

 time of it in the summer, when the heat of the 

 fierce Indian sun has dried up so much of the 

 water, and these quarrelsome whistlers want 

 all the ponds that are left for themselves. So 

 it is difficult to say whether this invasion was 



