BIRD LIFE IN WANSTEAD PARK. 
5 
and the green, hung mutton, washing them down with acrid 
Rhine wine or bilious Absinthe. Drusus, however, according to 
Pliny, was reprimanded by his father for his fastidious taste, and 
deserved it too. But let us leave the ancients for a while and 
have a glimpse at the plant in our own country. 
( lo be continued.) 
_ -j. ♦ , _ 
BIRD LIFE IN WANSTEAD PARK. 
Those dwellers in the East End of London who take an 
interest in ornithology will find plenty to instruct them in 
Wanstead Park, which Park was taken over for the public by 
the Corporation of London some few years back, and is situated 
close to the busy manufacturing town of Stratford, 
About the most interesting feature here to lovers of bird life 
is the heronry, which is situated on an island in one of the lakes 
and usually contains, I believe, about thirty nests. During the 
breeding season herons may often be seen flying to and from 
the Park, at times uttering their harsh cries of “frank ” “frank.” 
Their powerful wings enable them to rise to a great height and 
when watching them I have often thought how they must have 
put the powers of the falcon to the test in the old hawking- 
days, when the heron was considered royal game. Specimens 
that I have handled averaged in measurement, from point of 
beak to extremity of tail, three feet, and about four and a half 
feet from tip of one wing to the other, whilst the entire weight 
is only a few pounds, clearly showing rare powers of flight. On 
the waters of the Park coots and moorhens may frequently be 
seen and an occasional little grebe or dabchick, and wild ducks. 
At rare intervals the great crested grebe and pochard have been 
seen. 
During springtime I have frequently seen the common sand¬ 
piper or summer snipe running about the edges of the lakes, 
and in winter both the common and jack snipe. The peewit 
or lapwing may be sometimes seen on the adjoining fields, and 
in hard weather large flocks have been known to pass over. 
During May that singular looking bird of the night, the night- 
iar, arrives and may be seen at dusk hawking for moths and 
other insects in the glades of the Park, These birds when 
resting during the day sit lengthways on their perch with the 
head low down : I have never seen them here after September, 
for about this time they appear to leave the district. 
The little blue tit is very common here and on summer 
evenings the sweet sounds of the nightingale’s note may often 
be heard. The sparrow hawk is rarely seen, but the kestrel 
