116 BIRDS IN LONDON 



In some of the parks, notably at Battersea, 

 where the birds are in thousands, the effect of so 

 many voices all chirruping together is quite 

 wonderful, and very delightful. 



The time will come, let us hope, when for 

 half a dozen species of small birds in London we 

 shall have two dozen, or even fifty ; until then 

 the sparrow, even the common gutter-sparrow, 

 is a bird to be thankful for. 



The starling ranks second to the sparrow in 

 numbers ; but albeit second, the interval is very 

 great : the starlings' thousands are but a small 

 tribe compared to the sparrows' numerous 

 nation. 



It has been said that the starling is almost 

 as closely associated with man as the sparrow. 

 That is hardly the case ; in big towns the spar- 

 row, like the rat and black beetle, although not 

 in so unpleasant a way, is parasitical on man, 

 whereas the starling is perfectly independent. 

 He frequents human habitations because they 

 provide him with suitable breeding-holes ; he 

 builds in a house, or barn, or church tower, 

 just as he does in a hole in a tree in a wild 

 forest, or a hole in the rock on some sea-cliff, 



