46 BIRDS IN LONDON 



bird, at a moment when he had set his burden 

 down, and succeeded in getting near enough to 

 see that the white object was the round top 

 part of a cottage loaf. But though the rush had 

 been sudden and unexpected, and accompanied 

 w T ith a startling shout, the crow did not lose his 

 head ; striking his powerful beak, or plunging it, 

 as Eliza Cook would have said, into the mass, he 

 flopped up and struggled resolutely on until he 

 reached the nest, to be boisterously welcomed 

 by his hungry family. They had a big meal, 

 but perhaps grumbled a little at so much bread 

 without any ghee. 



Probably the London crows get most of their 

 food from the river. Very early every morning, 

 as we have seen, they wing their way to the 

 Thames, and at all hours of the day, when not 

 engaged in breeding, crows may be seen travel- 

 ling up and down the river, usually in couples, 

 from Barnes and Mortlake and higher up, down 

 to the sea. They search the mud at low tide 

 for dead fishes, garbage, bread, and vegetable 

 matter left by the water. Even when the tide 

 is at its full the birds are still able to pick up 

 something to eat, as they have borrowed the 

 gull's habit of dropping upon the water to pick 



