BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 



ABOUT the middle of last May, after a rough and 

 cold period, there came a spell of brilliant weather, 

 reviving in me the old spring feeling, the passion for 

 wild nature, the desire for the companionship of 

 birds ; and I betook myself to St. James's Park 

 for the sake of such satisfaction as may be had from 

 watching and feeding the fowls, wild and semi- 

 wild, found gathered at that favoured spot. 



I was glad to observe a couple of those new 

 colonists of the ornamental water, the dabchicks, 

 and to renew my acquaintance with the familiar, 

 long-established moorhens* One of them was en- 

 gaged in building its nest in an elm-tree growing 

 at the water's edge. I saw it make two journeys with 

 large wisps of dry grass in its beak, running up the 

 rough, slanting trunk to a height of sixteen to 

 seventeen feet, and disappearing within the " brush- 



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