SOUTH-WEST LONDON 245 



that too gaily apparelled idle singer, who painted 

 his eggs with so strange a paint, it must indeed 

 have been a relief to get rid of him. 



At present Clapham Common is no place for 

 birds. 



Wandsworth Common (183 acres) is a very 

 long strip of ground, unfortunately very narrows 

 with long monotonous rows of red brick houses, 

 hideous in their uniformity, at its sides. Here 

 there is no attempt at disguise, no illusion of 

 distance, no eifect of openness left : the cheap 

 speculative builder has been permitted to spoil 

 it all. A railway line which cuts very nearly 

 through the whole length of the common still 

 further detracts from its value as a breathing- 

 space. The broadest part of the ground at 

 its western extremity has a good deal of furze 

 growing on it, and here the common joins 

 an extensive piece of ground, park-like in 

 character, on which stands an extremely pic- 

 turesque old red brick house. When this green 

 space is built upon Wandsworth will lose the 

 little that remains of its ancient beauty and 

 freshness. 



Among the small birds still to be found here 



