London Birds. 167 



in all probability in many cases must lead to unpleasant con- 

 sequences. Salt and vinegar, which are so much used in 

 Eastern Europe, especially in Russia, as a pickle for Agarics, 

 neutralise, in all probability, the deleterious alcali. There is 

 no chance, indeed, of any one in England, except by way of 

 experiment, cooking so uninviting an Agaric, which may there- 

 fore be dismissed without any scruple. In Sweden it is justly 

 neglected, and Fries does not give it a word of commendation, 

 though he says that it is esculent. 



A very beautiful species, A. mucidus (Fig. 4), occurs on 

 beech trees in the southern counties, being a sure indication 

 of imminent decay. The viscid, pure white, or slightly ash 

 coloured pileus and distant gills, together with the highly 

 developed ring, readily distinguish it. 



The figures of Agaricus ccesareus and excoriatus are copied 

 from Vittadini, and that of A. mucidus from the Flora Danica, 

 as my own original sketches of the two latter species are not at 

 present accessible. 



LONDON BIKDS. 



BY SHIRLEY HIBBEED. 



Though London grows at such a rapid pace, that it threatens 

 soon to cover the greater part of the county of Middlesex, 

 nature is very beneficent, and has hitherto resisted the com- 

 plete eclipse by dirt which the speculative builders appear to 

 have had in contemplation. It was said by Leigh Hunt (or 

 somebody else), that you could not proceed far in any direc- 

 tion through the City of London without seeing a tree ; and to 

 that it may be added, that you can scarcely proceed a single 

 yard anywhere in the City, or in parts more close and crowded, 

 without seeing a bird. London is, indeed, far richer in birds 

 than it deserves to be. The municipal authorities and the 

 parochial and district boards rarely expend a penny or bestow 

 a site for the planting of a tree, the open spaces are for the most 

 part disgracefully filthy and desolate, and consequently there is 

 little encouragement within the town itself for birds of any 

 kind. In the suburbs it is otherwise. Nowhere in all England 

 is gardening pursued with so much ardour, and generally with 

 such good taste. As we proceed outwards from London, no 

 matter in what direction, we see the gardens beautifully 

 planted ; and the soil being everywhere good, trees are plen- 

 tiful and birds abound. A few birds, however, seem to be 



