The" Richmond Sanctuary ,The activities of man in the neighbourhood
"of London have proved singularly attractive to some of the very wildest birds. To take, a personal experience or two—I have watched plover, duck and snipe in many parts of the world and in the British Isles, including favourite haunts on the west coast of Ireland ; but in none of these places have I seen flocks or wisps so large as those on the Staines Reservoir and marshes of the. Wey by Woking and within the circle of the motor track at Brooklands. At Staines the variety as well as the quantity was great. It included golden-eyed duck, and great crested grebe and some bays of the reservoir were black with coot, which have become almost a plague. The out- standing marvel were the dense flocks of widgeon. Near Woking on meadows " ribbed and paled in " by the busiest of roads I have flushed a wisp of snipe, numbering not less than sixty and I thought over a hundred ; and when they had flown away the meadows were still alive with single birds. Mallard, teal and heron were among them. As for Brooklands, the flocks of green plover were rivals of the starlings in multi- tude. We all know how the starlings and black-headed gulls flock to central London. One of the troubles is that un- desirable birds also become oppidan or suburban. The great crested grebes fail to breed at Staines because their eggs are taken by carrion crows which are definitely encouraged by suburban conditions. They are even worse harriers of nests and of young birds than the brown owls which breed without molestation in almOst every town in England. Even sparrows, which are particularly severe on martins and swallows, pull small nests to pieces and most other birds dislike the proximity of many starlings.
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