146 BIRDS AND THEIR CHANGING HABITS 



the parks and more open spaces of London ; 

 and, strange to say, there are well-authenticated 

 instances of this whilom retiring bird nesting 

 within the busy precincts of the city itself. 



This extraordinary change of habit is also 

 found elsewhere. The German ornithologist, 

 Friderich, relates that, in 1879, he noticed a 

 wood pigeon consorting regularly with tame 

 pigeons in the town of Stuttgart ; that in the 

 North Frisian Islands and in Schleswig-Holstein 

 they were coming ' more and more ' into the 

 gardens and suburbs, having apparently lost 

 their fear of man ; and that in various towns 

 of the Netherlands, such as Amsterdam, Rot- 

 terdam, Leyden, and Leuwarden, the same 

 change was noticeable, as they nested there in 

 the trees surrounding the canals in considerable 

 numbers. 



Another addition, in recent times, to the bird- 

 life of London is the so-called black-headed gull ; 

 in passing, one may note this persistent mis- 

 nomer, the head of the bird, when in nuptial 

 plumage, being of a rich brown or chocolate 

 colour, and by no means black. Large flocks 

 of these gulls frequent, of late years, the Thames 

 and the ornamental waters of the parks every 

 winter, although formerly seldom, if ever, to be 

 seen there. Sir Herbert Maxwell accounts for 



