88 
NATURE NOTES 
July 28 I found the nest abandoned. There was one egg and 
one dead cygnet in it. I was told by a keeper that two other 
young birds had been hatched, but had mysteriously disappeared. 
It was suggested that they had been killed by rats. At this 
date — the end of July, there were in addition to three old black 
swans, one survivor of the brood hatched in October, 1902, and 
one survivor of the April (1903) brood. Of the two young birds, 
that of the previous October, ten months old, was very like its 
mother, but smaller. It had some brown edgings to its white 
flight feathers, the bill was of a dull pink, instead of the bright 
pink of maturity ; and the band across the bill was pale pink, 
instead of white. The irides, too, were of a duller red than 
those of an old bird. The April bird, nearly four months old, 
was almost as big as the bird of ten months, but was much 
browner on the back and had more brown on the flight feathers 
of the wing, the bill was a duller muddy pink, and the light 
band across it brownish white — the sides were reddish brown. 
On August 18 a black swan was again sitting on the nest 
by the fountains, but on only one egg. A week later she had 
left the nest and the egg was gone too. 
On September 29 this nest was again occupied and there 
were six eggs in it. On October 27 I saw three young birds 
swimming about which could not have been more than a day 
or two old. On December 31 there were seven black swans on 
the Serpentine, namely, these three cygnets, the two young birds 
above described, and two old birds. I do not know what had 
become of the third. At least sixteen eggs had been laid during 
the year. 
Turning to the wild birds, my notes for 1903 refer to some 
rather interesting occurrences. On January i two greenfinches 
were observed in Hyde Park close to the bridge, and on the 
morning of January 6, a beautiful day, a blackbird in Ken- 
sington Gardens was in full song. On January 9 I observed an 
almost white blackbird fly from the island in the Serpentine, 
and this bird was frequently to be seen throughout the year 
either near the island or in the dell at the east end of the water. 
January was very warm and some hawthorns in Kensington 
Gardens were quite brightly tinged with green by the middle of 
the month. 
My sister saw a wheatear in Kensington Gardens on 
March 25, and I observed a pair there on the following day. 
Early in April I inspected the rooks’ nests in Connaught 
Square, of which I counted eleven ; eight appeared to be in- 
habited. During this month, when spring migrants may be 
expected in the London Parks, the winds were unusually cold. 
I observed a willow wren in Kensington Gardens on April 20, 
my sister saw a redstart on the 28th, and tw'o sand martins 
were flying over the Serpentine on the 30th ; but by far the 
most interesting occurrence in April was that of a yellow-hammer 
in Hyde Park on the 24th. My eldest brother and I were 
