218 BIRDS IN LONDON 



have, between the river on one side and the re- 

 treating frontier line of open spaces on the other, 

 a large densely-populated district, containing 

 few and small breathing-spaces, but not quite 

 so badly off in this respect as the most crowded 

 portion of East London. 



The Post-Office line dividing the Southern 

 districts cuts through this populous part of 

 South London, and has a hilly country on the 

 left side of the line and a comparatively flat 

 country on the right or west side. The west 

 side is the district of large commons ; on the east 

 side the open spaces are not so many nor, as a 

 rule, so large, but in many ways they are more 

 interesting. 



All that follows in this chapter will relate 

 to the open spaces on the east side of the line. 



The most densely populated portion of 

 South-east London lies between Greenwich and 

 Kennington Oval, a distance of about four 

 miles and a half. This crowded part contains 

 about twelve square miles of streets and houses, 

 and there are in it three open spaces called 

 ' parks,' but quite insignificant in size consider- 

 ing the needs of so vast a population. These 



