NATURE NEAR LONDON 



sands. After a while two more used to appear, 

 and then there was a chase round the copse, up to 

 the tallest birch, and out to the ash tree again. 

 This went on day after day, and was repeated 

 every evening. Flying from the ash to the copse 

 and returning, the birds were constantly in sight ; 

 they sometimes passed over the house, and the call 

 became so familiar that it was not regarded any 

 more than the chirp of a sparrow. Till the very 

 last the cuckoos remained there, and never ceased 

 to be heard till they left to cross the seas. 



That was the cuckoos' season ; next spring 

 they returned again, but much later than usual, and 

 did not call so much, nor were they seen so often 

 while they were there. One was calling in the 

 copse on the evening of the 6th of May as late as 

 half-past eight, while the moon was shining. But 

 they were not so prominent ; and as for the missel- 

 thrushes, I did not hear them at all in the copse. 

 It was the wood-pigeons' year. Thus the birds 

 come in successioa and reign by turns. 



Even the starlings vary, regular as they are by 

 habit. This season (1881) none have whistled 

 on the house-top. In previous years they have 

 always come, and only the preceding spring a pair 

 filled the gutter with the materials of their nest. 

 Long after they had finished a storm descended, and 

 the rain, thus dammed up and unable to escape, 

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