ra PREFACE 



Kingfisher, who, more venturesome than his fellows, 

 has' followed up the stream by which the lake finds 

 outlet. Few would suspect into what close proximity 

 to industrial centres the Heron's fishing excursions 

 will sometimes lead him in the grey of early morning. 

 Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, and Yellow Wagtails delight 

 in the short grass of suburban football-fields and the 

 well-kept sward of cricket-grounds. The invariable 

 occurrence of the Magpie and Carrion Crow in the 

 immediate vicinity of large towns is no doubt accounted 

 for by the absence of their natural enemy, the game- 

 keeper. A Birmingham naturalist stated some time 

 since, that crow, kestrel, and green-woodpecker all 

 nest within the borough boundaries, while in some 

 well-wooded private grounds within two miles of the 

 heart of the midland metropolis we are told that 

 eighty-six species of birds have been noted, and that 

 thirty-six have bred. This is a truly wonderful record, 

 only to be accounted for by the fact that there is here 

 direct communication with open country, and that for 

 years a family of naturalists has devoted to it the 

 keenest observation. To this bird-sanctuary come 

 from time to time the three woodpeckers, the king- 

 fisher, the common-sandpiper, the barn and tawny 

 owl, even the woodcock and partridge, while the list 

 of those which have nested includes the jay, haw- 

 finch, stock and turtle doves, and quite a number of 

 the summer migrants. The reed-warbler, in default 

 of reeds, has been known to place its nest in a clump of 

 fern or at the top of a tall arbor-vitse, and the chiff- 

 chaff, perhaps with a view to cats, has nested fully 

 five feet from the ground. 



The Londoner is no less well situated, for he has the 

 parks, where Wood Pigeons, in conscious enjoyment 

 of the pax britannica, have so far forgotten their 



