NOTES AND QUERIES. 69 
in broad daylight—in fact, I found it before I had lighted my candle.— 
CuarLes OLpHAm (Ashton-on-Mersey). 
BIRDS. 
Notes on London Birds.—The interesting notes on London birds 
which have lately appeared in ‘The Zoologist’ have prompted me to offer 
the following observations on birds which I have met with, chiefly in 
Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, during the last few years. As to 
the Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa grisola, in Kensington Gardens, which 
Mr. J. Young says (p. 23) he did not observe last summer, I do not think 
it was as numerous as in previous summers, but there were certainly some 
there. I was not in town at the time of their arrival, but my sisters first 
observed them on May 22nd—very late. In previous years, according to 
our note-book, they were first observed as follows :—1887, May 4th; 1886, 
May 15th; 1885, May 9th; and 1884, May 11th. A pair usually build 
their nest on a ledge of the middle arch of the bridge over the Serpentine; 
last summer, however, they were not there. The decrease of the London 
rookeries is much to be regretted, but a good many Rooks may be still seen 
about the parks. I frequently see a party of about forty feeding on the 
open ground in Hyde Park near the Marble Arch. It was here, one rather 
foggy morning in the winter of 1885, that a Sparrowhawk flew close by 
me; and here, every April, migratory Wheatears may be observed for a 
day or two. Our smaller migrants, with the exception of the Spotted 
Flycatcher and Redstart, rarely stay in London during the summer; but 
the Whitethroat and Blackcap do so occasionally, and I have reason to 
believe that the Willow Warbler breeds in the Botanical Gardens, Regent’s 
Park. The Garden Warbler may be seen in spring for a short time while 
passing through town, and sometimes we have short visits from the 
Chiffchaff and the Lesser Whitethroat—a bird which is very common in 
the immediate neighbourhood of the Metropolis. On April 19th, 1885, 
there was quite a large party of Tree Pipits in Kensington Gardens, on the 
Hyde Park side of the Serpentine, but I have never seen them since. The 
Meadow Pipit, too, is rarely seen, except in very cold weather, when a few 
come into London for shelter. Other cold-weather visitors which I have 
noted are the Sky Lark, the Redwing, Fieldfare, Grey Wagtail, and Missel 
Thrush. Of these the Lark may be seen occasionally at all seasons, and a 
few pairs of Missel Thrushes nest in Kensington Gardens. I have seen 
the Redwing as late as April, but never earlier than December. The 
Sparrow, Starling, Wood Pigeon, Jackdaw, Blackbird, Thrush, Crow, 
Hedgesparrow, Robin, and Wren are ali residents in greater or less 
numbers; and the Great Tit, the Coal Tit and the Blue Tit have been 
noted at almost every season of the year. A Sparrow which my sisters 
found some years ago in Kensington Gardens, with a broken wing, was 
