102 BIRDS IN LONDON 



almost incredible to many readers that only 

 fifteen years ago, one spring morning, the head 

 gardener at Buckingham Palace, full of excite- 

 ment, made a hurried visit to a friend to tell 

 him that a pair of these birds had actually built 

 a nest on a tree in the Palace grounds. Up 

 till now the birds are most numerous in this 

 part of London. The moorhen, I believe, bred 

 first at St. James's Park about seventeen years 

 ago ; a few days ago — January 1898 — I saw 

 twelve of these birds in a little scattered flock 

 feeding in the grass in this park. In no other 

 public park in London can so manj^ be seen 

 together. The dabchick first bred in St. James's 

 Park about fifteen years ago, and last summer, 

 1897, as many as seven broods were brought 

 out. In no other London park were there 

 more than two broods. 



The three species described are the only per- 

 manent additions in recent years to the wild bird 

 life of the metropolis. But when it is considered 

 that their colonies were self-planted, and have 

 shown a continuous growth, while great changes 

 of decrease and increase have meanwhile been 

 going on in the old-established colonies, we find 



