282 BIEDS IN LONDON 



just as we have to count with lunatics and 

 criminals. Doubtless some readers will disagree 

 with this conclusion. I know it is a common 

 idea one hears it often enough that love of 

 birds is by no means a general feeling ; that it is, 

 on the contrary, somewhat rare, and consequently 

 that those who experience it have some reason 

 to be proud of their superiority. To my mind 

 all this is a pretty delusion ; no one natters 

 himself that he is in any special way a lover of 

 sunshine and green flowery meadows and run- 

 ning waters and shady trees ; and I can only 

 repeat here what I have said before, that the 

 delight in a wild bird is as common to all men 

 as the feeling that the sunshine is sweet and 

 pleasant to behold. 



One word more may be added here. We 

 that is to say, our representatives on the County 

 Council annually spend some thousands of 

 pounds on gardening, in laying out beds of 

 brilliant tulips, geraniums, and other gay flowers, 

 but, with the exception of the cost of the little 

 food given to the birds in frosty weather in some 

 of the parks, not one pound, not one penny, 

 has been spent directly on the birds ; and yet 

 there is no doubt that the birds are more to most 



