LONDON BIRDS IN 1899 89 
house martins and swallows there ; and in the evening I heard 
a wood wren singing in Kensington Gardens. 
My brother and I put up a common sandpiper by the side 
of the Serpentine on May 2 : it was the first bird of this species 
which I had seen in a London park for nine years. On May 3, 
I saw a swift over the Long Water. About this time a pair of 
whitethroats were frequently to be seen and heard in a shrubbery 
by the bridge, but they did not remain after May 8. On May 9, 
a cuckoo flew over my head at Hyde Park Corner ; and on the 
13th the spotted flycatcher made its appearance in Kensington 
Gardens. I have some evidence to show that this interesting 
little bird nested during the summer in Kensington Gardens, 
but unfortunately no proof of it. A linnet was in full song in 
Regent’s Park on July 9. Mr. Ashley informed me that a 
cuckoo flew into Bridgewater House on July 16. Early in the 
morning of the 22nd a young moorhen was floundering about on 
the path opposite to the island in the Serpentine. The wretched 
bird had swallowed a baited line by which some small boys had 
hoped to catch fish. The wings and legs of the poor little 
creature were hopelessly entangled in the string, but on my 
approach it managed to roll itself into the water and was just 
out of the reach of the open umbrella in which I attempted to 
catch it. Being in a hurry I obtained the aid of a boatman and 
left him to effect the rescue. He told me next day that he had 
pulled the hook with a fish on it out of the bird’s throat, and 
that after its release the bird appeared to be none the worse for 
its adventure. 
On August 2 I watched several sparrows attacking male 
vapourer moths as they flew round a hawthorn tree near the 
Magazine in Hyde Park. So far as I could see, the birds 
simply pulled the moths to pieces out of sheer mischief and left 
their wingless bodies without attempting to eat them. Before 
August 2 I had always greatly envied the male vapourers, for 
whereas they can fly about wherever they like with their bright 
chestnut wings, their females are wingless and have to stay at 
home. So the males of this species must enjoy a freedom and 
independence which is denied to most of us. 
On August 8 I saw a whinchat near the Round Pond. 
Shortly after this date I left town for a short holiday. On my 
return to London I was surprised to see hundreds of sand 
martins and swallows flying over the Serpentine from Sep- 
tember 26 to October 8. House martins, too, were very nume- 
rous at this time throughout the whole of the West end of 
London, not only in parks and squares, but in many of the 
most crowded thoroughfares. During the first week of October 
house martins could be seen daily tearing up and down Victoria 
Street, and even in the Strand and P'leet Street. They used to 
nest in Fleet Street in Gilbert White’s day, but they look very 
out of place there now. 
51, Gloucestcy Terrace, A. Holte Macpherson. 
Hyde Park, IV. 
February 20, 1900. 
