BIRD-LIFE IN LONDON 
23 
molested ; and, though perhaps strictly a local bird, under 
favourable circumstances it might be induced to nest regularly 
even in some of our parks. Just off Bostall Woods, and in the 
surrounding undergrowth, this bird rears its young every year ; 
and, thanks to its cunning in selecting a spot, is often able to 
avoid the grimy hand of the obno.xious small boy, who collects 
all birds’ eggs, great or small, usually taking the whole clutch 
from a nest. 
Perhaps your walk may take you around the low'-lying 
marshland of these parts, amongst the sloe and other bushes. 
You observe a little brown bird flitting in and out of the bushes 
and reeds : that is the Sedge Warbler probably, or it might be 
the Reed Warbler, for they are very much alike. When it is 
evening, if you throw a clod into the bushes where the Sedge 
Warbler may be, he will retaliate with a song, which, if a little 
bit jerky, is no mere apology, and he may continue this parti- 
cular song well into the night. He is the Nightingale of the 
marshes. 
A rare bird, the Pied Flycatcher (if you can distinguish him), 
is sometimes seen, not being quite so rare here as is supposed. 
.-\ songster perhaps of no great account, he is but withal a bird 
greatly to be encouraged. As for his near relation, the Spotted 
Flycatcher, he is quite a common bird here in the summer. You 
may see many specimens from Postal to Belvedere on the high 
roads, this being at times a feeding-ground for many. 
Most people have seen a grasshopper, but how many have 
seen a Grasshopper Warbler within walking distance of their 
London home? Yet this bird is no stranger here sometimes. 
You can hear him in the undergrowth, his peculiarity being 
the imitation of the insect of the fields. This bird, like many 
other birds of passage, is very shy, and, unless one is careful, is 
very easily frightened away. 
A bird usually seen in great numbers in this country, and 
perhaps one of the commonest of migrants in this part, is the 
Common Whitethroat, which should not be confused with the 
Lesser Whitethroat, a bird not often occurring here. With but 
an indifferent song, he is nevertheless an interesting little fellow 
and breeds almost anywhere. 
The Wren is, perhaps, well known to everybody : the Golden- 
crowned Wren is not, though you may see it sometimes among 
the tall fir trees at Bostal. Its appearance is erratic, for some- 
times it leaves us for months together. It nests here, but being 
such a tiny bird it is difficult to discover. 
The Dartford Warbler, an extremely rare bird here, is another 
species fast becoming extinct, and, like the Savi’s Warbler, will, I 
am afraid, be no more, unless steps are taken to severely protect 
it. Examples occur sometimes, and I have known them to nest 
quite near ; but their eggs are sought after so relentlessly by the 
“ professional egger,” that I wonder they survive at all. Having 
only a weak song they probably escape observation, but they stay 
the year round with us and are truly British birds. 
