400 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



expected they would be killed by the fall ; but, 

 after tumbling over on their sides, righted them- 

 selves, and waddled down to the water, apparently 

 none the worse. They seemed as collapsible as 

 indiarubber balls.^ 



While watching the Crows at the water's edge 

 in the early morning, one might often see Wood- 

 pigeons come down to drink. There are nests in 

 Kensington Gardens every summer, and the owners 

 would sometimes suffer a tolerably near approach ; 

 so quickly do birds discover when they are in safe 

 quarters. It is curious that none of the numerous 

 flocks of house pigeons in London are ever to be 

 seen feeding out in the parks. In the country it is 

 quite a common occurrence to see pigeons out in the 

 fields a long way from the farms ; and one would have 

 supposed that in London the green grass of the parks 

 would have proved attractive ; but probably the birds 

 are too well fed to make it necessary to wander far 

 from where they habitually roost. Several years ago, 

 when there were more trees standing, and a good 

 many old ones amongst them, Woodpeckers of 

 three sorts might be seen. Yarrell states that the 

 Greater Spotted Woodpecker used to breed in 

 Kensington Gardens, but it has not been known to 

 do so of late years. This bird is now less often seen 

 than the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, which is the 

 commoner species round London, and which was 

 detected in Kensington Gardens in May 1878 — 

 possibly since then by other observers. In 

 November 1885 the rarer Green Woodpecker was 

 seen here, and on the nth of December following 



