Country Life
MORE URBAN BIRDS.
That birds are becoming more and more urban in the wake of the human race can scarcely be doubted. The list of London birds continues to be increased, as a host of letters following Mr. Julian Huxley's letter to the Times illustrates. But these letters scarcely allude to the duck, which are perhaps the chief wonder. The tendency, so far as my limited observation goes, is world-wide. One of the peculiar attractions of Toronto, a town multiplying at a great rate (and like most others moving inexplicably westwards), is a very red woodpecker—of what species I am not sure. The same family is represented, in a smaller greener species, on the hillside that gives Montreal its name. The hawks (of which genus none are now appearing in London) penetrate to the heart of Cologne and the golden oriole is a common bird in its suburbs. The wagtails are peculiarly conspicuous in the great Australian capitals. I have watched buzzards for hours in Washington. But I think the most notable invasion of a town by birds is represented by the owls in Oxford. They came there probably for their prey as well as their security. They kill, to my personal knowledge, many birds, especially, I think, blackbirds in nesting time.
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