108 LONDON BIRDS 



probably on the increase. Hundreds of them nest in 

 such places as Chiswick House, Ken Wood, and 

 Wimbledon Park, and the keepers in Regent's Park 

 have to slay many of them in defence of the eggs of the 

 waterfowl. 



I fancy that the latest addition to London birds is 

 the magpie; there is generally one to be seen in the 

 Green Park, perhaps one of a pair brought a few years 

 ago to St. James's Park. It is much to be hoped that 

 he (or she) may find a mate and found a colony, 1 for 

 despite the ill-fame this pied crow has earned from 

 gamekeepers, he may pick up a living blamelessly 

 enough in town, and his irresponsible chatter adds a 

 welcome note of wild life to the turmoil of traffic. 



A fourth member of the crow tribe the irrepres- 

 sible starling brings me to the end of my list. 

 Nothing is more remarkable in the general bird popula- 

 tion of these islands than the prodigious increase in 

 the number of starlings. When I was a boy the 

 starling's pale blue egg was counted a prize, in the 

 north at least ; now, right away to John o' Groats, they 

 pervade every county in thousands. How they all find 

 subsistence is a wonder, yet they always seem in high 

 condition. They are welcome in London, were it only 

 for their fine powers of mimicry, which enable them to 

 treat us to nice little snatches from the melody of pro- 

 fessional songsters like the thrush and the lark, with 

 quotations from the conversation of coots and curlews. 



1 Magpies have nested in the Green Park for at least two con- 

 secutive seasons (1908 and 1909), but I have not ascertained whether 

 they have succeeded in rearing a brood. 



