212 BIRDS IN LONDON 



The park (182 acres) is mostly a wood, 

 unlike Highgate, Churchyard Bottom, Wimble- 

 don, or any other wood open to the public near 

 London. It has green spaces and a great deal 

 of water (the lakes and the Eoding, which runs 

 through it), and is very charming in its openness, 

 its perfect wildness, and the variety of sylvan 

 scenery contained in it. As might be supposed, 

 this park is peculiarly rich in wild bird life, and 

 among the breeding species may be mentioned 

 mallard and teal, ring-dove and turtle-dove, 

 woodpecker, jay, hawfinch, and nightingale. 

 But the chief attraction is the very large rookery 

 and heronry contained on one of the two large 

 wooded islands. It has sometimes happened 

 when rooks and herons have built on the same 

 trees, or in the same wood, that they have 

 fallen out, and the herons have gone away in 

 disgust to settle elsewhere. At Wanstead 

 no disastrous war has yet taken place, al- 

 though much quarrelling goes on. The 

 heronry is probably very old, as in 1834 it 

 was described as ' long established and very 

 populous.' The birds subsequently abandoned 

 their old quarters on Heron Island and esta- 

 blished their heronry on Lincoln Island, and in 



