Birds in London

Birds in London is by W. H. Hudson, F.Z.S., and bears the date 1898. The preface says the aim of the work has been to furnish an account of the London wild bird life of to-day. The text lists the woodpecker, green and spotted, the nuthatch, tree-creeper, nightingale, bottle-tit, wryneck, jay, crow, kestrel and white and brown owl as birds that bred in the summer of 1897 in many little hidden rustic spots.

The text says the changes are the result of the gradual decrease in numbers and final dying out of many of the old-established species, chiefly singing birds, and the appearance of other species previously unknown in London. The text says Regent's Park now forms one continuous open space, under one direction, with Primrose Hill, and contains altogether 473 acres, and that it is far and away the largest of the inner London parks, its area exceeding that of Hyde Park by 112 acres. The text calls the Queen's Park a dreary patch of stiff clay, where the vegetation is stunted and looks tired of life.