Duckti and Drakes One of the unexpected pleasures of living
near Hyde Park is that every so often, usually in the early ,morning. one or more mallards (I suppose from the Serpentine) swoop down on to our lawn. Quite why they do this I'm not sure. They're certainly neither hungry nor thirsty—they ignore food and drink—and, except for the occasional sexual diversion, all they do is waddle about the garden silently and aimlessly for about twenty minutes before, heavily but remarkably quickly, taking off for the park again. Perhaps they just want a little privacy. Whatever the reason, it's a bizarre and strangely pleasing sight. For the first time in my life I find myself experiencing a fellow-feeling with the late Lord Grey, who seemed to spend most of his time at the Foreign Office watching the ducks in St James's Park.
NIGEL LAWSON
Previous page
