122 BIRDS IN LONDON 



of ornithological science, what they had 

 eaten ! 



Between the starling and the next in order, 

 the blackbird, there is again a very great 

 difference with regard to numbers. The former 

 counts thousands, the latter hundreds. Be- 

 tween blackbird and song-thrush, or throstle, 

 there is not a wide difference, but if we take 

 the whole of London, the blackbird is much 

 more numerous. After these two, at a consider- 

 able distance, comes the robin. In suburban 

 grounds and gardens these three common 

 species are equally abundant. But in these 

 same private places, which ring the metropolis 

 round with innumerable small green refuges, 

 or sanctuaries, several other species which are 

 dying out in the parks and open spaces of inner 

 London are also common — wren, hedge-sparrow, 

 blue, cole, and great tits, chaiSnch, and green- 

 finch — and of these no more need be said in this 

 chapter. 



As we have seen, there is always a great 

 interest shown (by the collector especially) 

 in that not very rare phenomenon, an abnor- 

 mally white bird. But in London the bird- 



