56 Mrs. Gurrey—Birds in a Garden near London


Rooks, and sometimes I hear the voice of a Crow among them. The

Wood Pigeons are allowed to build near the colony. One very curious

point I have noticed with the Rooks. They evidently have a king or

leader of some sort, for year by year when spring arrives, one Rook

takes his seat outside the colony on a high branch and calls : “ Wee-oo !

Wee-oo ! ” Whereupon all the others answer “ Caw ! ” and begin to

fly about. It is obviously a word of command, and when the young are

fledged, “ Wee-oo ! ” sounds all day long, as the lessons in flying begin,

and the parent birds escort the young ones on their first flight, a little

further every day, till at length they can accompany their parents to

the fields to get worms and grubs. There used to be many wild Turtle

Doves in the garden, having probably come from the Epsom Downs,

where after the races whole flocks appear. Starlings abound, of course,

and the dreadful Sparrow, whose business consists in depriving other

birds of their food, and even life. Blackbirds used to be numerous ;

now only a pair or two build in the garden, generally on a south wall

close to a garden-door in an old creeper. Years ago a hen Blackbird

with only one leg spent several winters here. Thrushes are fairly

numerous. Nightingales used to nest in the old hawthorn hedge

round a pond in the field beyond the garden, but now the traffic on

the road has scared them all away. The Wryneck calls occasionally,

but used to haunt the orchard, where there are old fruit-trees to nest

in. The Cuckoo formerly frequented our garden so that he was a

positive nuisance. After more or less of absence during the war years,

he has now come again. Missel Thrushes fly about in early autumn,

but do not stay to nest in spring. The Great Tit never leaves us. Year

after year his little monotonous note sounds : “ Weetle ! Weetle !

Weetle ! ” usually repeated three or five times in succession, while after

the breeding season he calls “ ping ! ping ” like the ringing of a fairy

bell. He is very easily tamed by maize or ground-nuts and will come

indoors. The Blue Tit is also always in evidence, and the Cole Tit,

and the Blackcap. The Greenfinches and Chaffinches consort with the

Sparrows, and by driving the latter away I frighten the former. Having

an orchard here, Nuthatches used to be often seen, but fewer now.

The Spotted Flycatcher built every year on a low branch of an old

cedar, but I cannot find his nest now. Many years ago a very fine



