32 
NATURE NOTES. 
On March 6, I saw a pied wagtail in Green Park. The 
London singing birds seemed to have agreed to celebrate the 
advent of spring on March 7 ; on that day, although rather raw 
and cold, thrushes, robins and hedge sparrows Avere all singing 
hard. I did not hear the blackbird till the gth. It was also 
on March 9 that I happened to ask one of the keepers in Kensing- 
ton Gardens whether he thought that the crows, which have 
frequently nested there, would return this season. He replied 
that he did not think it likely, because the authorities Avere 
trying to shoot them, and that on that very morning a man had 
been out after the croAvs Avith a gun. In reply to an appeal to the 
authorities, Avhich I made Avithout delay, I Avas merely informed 
that the croAvs Avere so destructive to the young birds and rabbits 
that they could not be encouraged. Considering that the nesting 
of the croAvs in Kensington Gardens is one of the most interest- 
ing and remarkable sights in the whole of London, it is ridiculous 
to put forAvard the occasional loss of a duckling or sparrow or 
young rabbit as a reason— or rather an excuse — for shooting at 
them. I am glad to be able to say that some croAVS are still to 
be seen, so they have not yet been exterminated, but so far as 
I knoAV they did not nest last season in Kensington Gardens. 
On March 10 a greenfinch Avas singing in Regent’s Park, but 1 
did not hear the song of the chaffinch in London until the 12th. 
On March 24 I noticed another pied Avagtail — this time near the 
Round Pond ; and on the 31st heard that rooks Avere hard at 
Avork repairing their old nests in Connaught Square. By the 
third Aveek of April five out of the six nests appeared to be 
occupied, but tAvo Avere subsequently deserted for some reason. 
In April the spring migrants began to appear in Kensington 
Gardens. On the 6th I saAv and heard the chiff-chaff ; and on 
the 7th, Avhile looking for birds before breakfast, I found a 
splendid cock redstart, and others Avere seen on the 8th, loth, and 
22nd. A AvilloAv Avren Avas singing on the loth, but my friend, 
Mr. George Henderson, had observed one on the previous day 
close to the Long Water. There Avere a good many of this 
species about the Gardens throughout the remainder of the 
month. 
On the afternoon of March 10 a magpie flew OA’er the LaAv 
Courts in the Strand and Avent out of sight in a southerly 
direction. SAvalloAvs appeared on the 21st in Hyde Park. 
A wood Avren was reported to me from Kensington Gardens 
on May i. On the 5th a blackcap Avas singing gloriously in a 
shrubbery Avithin 200 yards from the BaysAvater Road, and on 
the 13th and 14th the reed Avarbler Avas to be heard by the 
Serpentine. House martins Avere seen over the Serpentine on 
the 19th, and I Avas told that a cuckoo Avas heard in Kensington 
Gardens on the 30th. All these birds merely passed through 
toAvn, but the spotted flycatchers Avhich appeared on the 7th 
remained as usual in small numbers to nest. Very little Avas 
seen of them during the cold Aveather in the middle of the 
month, but 1 saAV several young birds later in the summer. 
