208 BIRDS IN LONDON 



Marsh from boyhood, and had witnessed the 

 sports for very many years, assured me that 

 only since the County Council had taken this 

 open space in hand was it possible for quiet and 

 decent folks to enjoy it. As to the wild bird 

 shooting, he was glad that that too had been 

 done away with ; men who spent their Sundays 

 shooting at starlings, larks, and passing pigeons 

 were, he said, a rough lot of blackguards. Two 

 of his anecdotes are worth repeating. One 

 Sunday morning when he was on the Marsh a 

 young sportsman succeeded in bringing down a 

 pigeon which was flying towards London. The 

 bird when picked up was found to have a card 

 attached to its wing not an unusual occurrence 

 as homing birds were often shot. On the card 

 in this case was written the brief message, 

 ' Mother is dead.' My informant said that it 

 made him sick, but the young sportsman was 

 proud of his achievement. 



The other story was of a skylark that made 

 its appearance three summers ago in a vacant 

 piece of ground adjoining Victoria Park. The 

 bird had perhaps escaped from a cage, and was 

 a fine singer, and all day long it could be heard 

 as it flew high above the houses and the park- 



