THE BIRDS OF LONDON 183 



and reared their young in the Gardens, and these 

 extremely shy birds may now be seen almost any 

 day flying from tree to tree or on the ground feeding. 

 These birds must not be confused with the true 

 London pigeon of the blue-rock blood, which never 

 takes to the trees and from which the wood-pigeon is 

 quite distinct. 



The term wild bird would technically exclude 

 what is perhaps the most truly London bird after 

 the sparrow, namely the pigeon, without which no 

 description of bird-life in London would be complete. 

 The London pigeon may not be called a wild bird 

 but he is so in reality. He makes his nest where 

 he pleases, and like the sparrow and the street 

 arab, he lives in the streets. One of these days the 

 London County Council may claim suzerainty over 

 him ; at present he owns allegiance to no man. 

 Nearly all the larger public buildings and many of 

 the churches in London are inhabited by pigeons ; 

 the birds make their nests in the inaccessible nooks 

 and corners of the roofs and they increase and 

 multiply from year to year. St. Paul's Cathedral, 

 the British Museum, the Houses of Parliament, 

 Somerset House, the Guildhall, the Law Courts, 

 and nearly every building of the kind, has each its 

 own particular flight of pigeons. These places with 

 their carved masonry and wide spacious roofs with 

 many an aerial nook and cranny offer just the kind 

 of retreat which every descendant of the rock- 

 pigeon loves. The pigeons which frequent some of 

 the buildings are fed regularly, others forage for 

 themselves, and it is one of the pleasantest sights 

 of the city, and not an uncommon one, to see the 

 London cabby emptying the remains of his nose- 



