OVERCROWDED RESERVOIRS.
Birds in London are so abundant that some of our careful legislators grow afraid that they may be a source of danger. Questions were asked last week in the House of Commons about the gulls on the reservoirs : might they not prove a cause of pollution to London waters ? Proper assurances were forthcoming ; but perhaps I may be allowed (since the occurrence belongs to the forgotten past) to record a singular instance of the actuality of this risk. One hard winter, duck, of several species, slept in altogether astounding numbers on one of the north-eastern reservoirs of London. Food was hard to come by, and many of these duck sought their food on a sewage farm not so far away, as a duck reckons distance from the reservoir. In one of the regular analyses of the water a chemist thought he discovered some symptom of contamina- tion. He was probably wrong, for I believe no other analysis corroborated the finding. However, it is well to be safe, and the authorities decided to reduce the number of duck. Some first-class shots were called to the rescue and enjoyed several evenings at " flighting " duck that were more crowded than they could have found even on the north-west coast of Ireland. The repetition of the battue and the opening or the weather, rather than the number of the victims, cured the duck of the dangerous habit.
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