204 BIRDS IN LONDON 



an illusive effect of distance. Walking about 

 this green level land in pleasant weather, I have 

 experienced in some degree the delightful sen- 

 sation which is always produced in us by a 

 perfectly flat extensive surface, such as we find 

 in some parts of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, 

 and Norfolk. This is the individual character 

 and peculiar fascination of Hackney Marsh. 

 And it is possible that this feeling of liberty and 

 ease, which mere flatness and spaciousness 

 give, was an element in the attraction which 

 the Marsh has always had for the East 

 Londoner. 



Here on a windy day at the end of February 

 I have been tempted to exclaim (like a woman), 

 6 What a picture I could make if I only knew 

 how to paint ! ' The rains and floods and spring- 

 like warmth of the winter of 1896-7 had made 

 the grass look preternaturally green ; the dis- 

 tant buildings, ugly perhaps when viewed 

 closely, at the distance of a mile, or even half 

 a mile, were looking strangely picturesque in the 

 pale smoky haze, changing, when the sun was 

 obscured by a flying cloud and again burst 

 forth, from deep blue to bright pearly grey; and 

 the tall chimneys changed, too, from a darkness 



