MAGPIE FIELDS 



of the field, and after having lost sight of it for 

 some time, to see it again seemed to bring the old 

 familiar far-away fields close to London. Between 

 Hampton Court and Kingston the towing-path of 

 the Thames is bordered by a broad greensward, 

 sufficiently wide to be worth mowing. One July 

 I found a man at work here in advance of the 

 mowers, pulling up yarrow plants with might and 

 main. 



The herb grew in such quantities that it was 

 necessary to remove it first, or the hay would be 

 too coarse. On conversing with him, he said that 

 a person came sometimes and took away a trap 

 load of yarrow ; the flowers were to be boiled and 

 mixed with cayenne pepper, as a remedy for cold 

 in the chest. In spring the dandelions here are 

 pulled in sackfuls, to be eaten as salad. These 

 things have fallen so much into disuse in the 

 country that country people are surprised to find 

 the herbalists flourishing round the great city of 

 progress. 



The continued dry weather in the early summer 

 of the present year, which was so favourable to 

 partridges and game, was equally favourable to the 

 increase of several other kinds of birds, and among 

 these the jays. Their screeching is often heard 

 in this district, quite as often as it is in country 

 woodlands. One day in the spring I saw six all 



