NOBTH-WEST AND NORTH LONDON 183 



acres) and Highgate Cemetery (40 acres). The 

 two first have a special value in their rough, wild, 

 woodland character, wherein they differ from all 

 other open spaces in or near London. But 

 although these spaces are both wildernesses, 

 and so close together as to be almost touching, 

 they each have an individual character. A very 

 large portion of the space called Highgate 

 Woods is veritably a wood, very thick and 

 copse-like, so that to turn aside from the path 

 is to plunge into a dense thicket of trees and 

 saplings, where a lover of solitude might spend 

 a long summer's day without seeing a human 

 face. Owing to this thick growth it is impos- 

 sible for the few guardians of this space to keep 

 a watch on the mischievous visitors, with the 

 result that in summer birds'-nesting goes on 

 with impunity ; the evil, however, cannot well 

 be remedied if the woods are to be left in their 

 present state. It would certainly greatly add 

 to their charm if such species as inhabit woods 

 of this character were to be met with here — the 

 woodpeckers, the kestrel and sparrow-hawk 

 and the owls, that have not yet forsaken this 

 part of London; and the vociferous jay, shriek- 

 ing with anger at being disturbed ; and the 



