IN KENSINGTON GARDENS 403 



the Round Pond and on the Serpentine. In the 

 autumn there are sometimes a good many there. 



Strange as it may seem, the Woodcock has several 

 times been flushed in Kensington Gardens, and 

 may almost be looked upon as an annual winter 

 visitant to the parks and gardens of London. An 

 article by the present writer, entitled "Woodcocks in 

 London," which appeared in The Field oiY€ox\i2.xy 

 14, 1885, will convey some idea of the frequency 

 of this bird's visits to the metropolis, and the 

 occasionally remarkable circumstances under which 

 it has been met with. Snipe have been occasion- 

 ally seen, or picked up dead under gas lights, but 

 the records of their occurrence are not nearly so 

 numerous as those relating to the Woodcock. Even 

 Gulls and Terns are not wanting to complete the 

 picture of bird-life in Kensington Gardens, for at 

 the period of migration in spring and autumn, when 

 these sea-birds are on their way to and from their 

 breeding haunts, they pass over the metropolis and 

 drop down upon the water in the London parks, 

 where they sometimes spend a few days before 

 continuing their journey. The Common and 

 Lesser Terns, the Black-headed Gull, and the 

 Kittiwake have all been detected at various times 

 on these inland waters, affording by their graceful 

 evolutions and snow-white plumage a charming 

 spectacle for sightseers in London. 



