264 BIEDS IN LONDON 



followed by the herons, who mounted high 

 above the black cawing crowd, looking very 

 large and majestic against the pale clear sky. 

 It was the finest spectacle in wild bird life I had 

 ever seen so close to London. 



It is a great thing for Eichmond to have the 

 heron, which is no longer common ; and now 

 that the kite, buzzard, and raven have been lost, 

 it is the only large soaring inland species which, 

 once seen, appears as an indispensable part of 

 the landscape. Take it away, and the large 

 comparatively wild nature loses half its charm. 



In a former chapter I have endeavoured to 

 show how great the aesthetic value of the daw is 

 to our cathedrals. The old dead builders of 

 these great temples owe perhaps as much to 

 this bird as to the softening and harmonising 

 effects of time and weather. Again, every one 

 must feel that the effect of sublimity produced 

 on us by our boldest cliffs is greatly enhanced 

 by the sea-fowl, soaring along the precipitous 

 face of the rocks, and peopling their ledges, tier 

 above tier of birds, the highest, seen from below, 

 appearing as mere white specks. A similar 

 effect is produced by large soaring birds on any 

 inland landscape ; the horizon is widened and 



