32 NATURE NEAR LONDON. 



bullfinch. I have only seen bullfinches three or four 

 times in three seasons, and then only a pair. Now, 

 this is \vorthy a note, as illustrating what I have 

 often ventured to say about the habitat of birds being 

 so often local, for if judged by observation 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 either 

 side, forming an irregular avenue. Almost every 

 elm in spring has its chaffinch loudly challenging. 

 The birdcatchers are aware that it is a frequented 

 resort, and. on Sunday mornings four or five of them 

 used to be seen in the course of a mile, each with a 

 call bird in a partly darkened cage, a stuffed dummy, 

 and limed twigs. In the corn fields on either hand 

 wood-pigeons are numerous in spring and autumn. 

 Up to April they come in flocks, feeding on the newly- 

 sown grain when they can get at it, and varying it 

 with ivy berries, from the ivy growing up the elms. 

 By degrees the flocks break up as the nesting begins 

 in earnest. 



Some pair and build much earlier than others ; in 

 fact, the first egg recorded is very little to be depended 

 on as an indication. Particular pairs (of many kinds 

 of birds) may have nests, and yet the species as a 

 species may be still flying in large packs. The flocks 

 which settle in these fields number from one to two 

 hundred. Eooks, wood-pigeons, and tame white 

 pigeons often feed amicably mixed up together ; the 

 white tame birds are conspicuous at a long distance 



