NATURE NEAR LONDON 2g~3 



of blackbirds, and on a warm May morning, after 

 a shower they are extremely fond of a shower 

 half a dozen may be heard at once whistling in 

 the elms. They use the elms here because there 

 are not many oaks ; the oak is the blackbird's 

 favourite song-tree. There was one one day 

 whistling with all his might on the lower branch 

 of an elm, at the very roadside, and just above 

 him a wood-pigeon was perched. A pair of turtle- 

 doves built in the same hedge one spring, and while 

 resting on the gate by the roadside their " coo-coo " 

 mingled with the song of the nightingale and 

 thrush, the blackbird's whistle, the chiff-chaff's 

 " chip-chip," the willow-wren's pleading voice, and 

 the rustle of green corn as the wind came rushing 

 (as it always does to a gateway). 



Goldfinches come by occasionally, not often, but 

 still they do come. The rarest bird seems to be 

 the bullfinch. I have only seen bullfinches three 

 or four times in three seasons, and then only a pair. 

 Now, this is worthy a note, as illustrating what I 

 have often ventured to say about the habitat of 

 birds being so often local, for if judged by observa- 

 tion here the bullfinch would be said to be a scarce 

 bird by London. But it has been stated upon the 

 best authority that only a few miles distant, and 

 still nearer town, they are common. 



The road now becomes bordered by elms on 

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