The Birds of Berlin
FROM the window of my office in the heart of Berlin I look out upon a garden where an oriole sings throughout the summer. Just beneath my window there is a flat lead roof which, like many others of the same type in Berlin, has a covering of a few inches of soil. In the course of time grasses, mosses and wild flowers, such as stonecrops and campions, have seeded themselves, and this wild roof garden is the favourite feeding ground of a pair of common redstarts. - But orioles and redstarts are common in this city of birds. Birds abound everywhere because, in spite of the great amount of traffic and noise, there are many open spaces and avenues well planted with trees of all kinds ; and, in particular, there are practically no cats in this city of flats and no two-legged marauders. The Ber- liners love their birds and give them every protection possible, and also take measures to attract them.
The Tiergarten is a paradise of birds. This is a well- wooded part in the centre of Berlin, about a half by two
* Kerenhappuek.
miles in size, containing a large variety of trees—mostly oak, beech, alder, hornbeam, poplar, maple and some evergreens. Everywhere beneath the trees there is a green-sward, which is kept green by much watering and resowing throughout the summer. There are. several lakes and ponds and abundant shrubberies.- The public is not allowed to leave the paths provided for its use, a regulation which is strictly complied with and which is greatly to the benefit of the birds, at any rate, who seem to realize perfectly well that beyond the low railing which encloses the paths they are free from all inter- ference or disturbance. Why otherwise should such usually shy birds as, for example, the woodpecker, nut- hatch or hawfinch often approach close up to the railing entirely indifferent to passers-by ? I have often stood only two or three feet away from these birds and watched them in their search for food.
The bird population of the Tiergarten changes, of course, with the seasons. Birds which may be seen practically all the year round are the grey crow, jackdaw, tawny owl, wood pigeon, jay, blackbird, starling, robin, wren, great spotted woodpecker, lesser spotted wood- pecker, green woodpecker, nuthatch, treecreeper, great tit, blue tit, marsh tit and greenfinch. In winter buzzards are of frequent occurrence, often remaining for weeks, and flocks of long-tailed tits and siskins arrive. It is a pretty sight to see the latter alight on floating refuse at the edge of a lake and pick out of the water the alder seeds which have drifted together in a close mass. As the winter draws to an end and the ice on the lakes begins to thaw, the thrush, chaffinch, hawfinch, tree- sparrow and mallard return for the breeding season.
In the early spring a few fieldfares and redwings regularly make the Tiergarten a resting-place on their way north to their breeding haunts. One of the earliest breeders in the Tiergarten is the tawny owl. One sunny morning towards the end of March I heard, close to the Brandenburger Tor, an owl hoot several times and discovered the bird perching on a branch of a tall oak. I also saw in another tree nearby three fluffy baby owls sitting side by side so closely that it was not possible to distinguish the three except with the aid of my binoculars. A fourth baby was in another tree in company with one of the parent birds.
First among the summer migrants to arrive in the Tiergarten are the chiffchaff and common redstart, which are followed soon after by the willow warbler, blackcap warbler, wood warbler, lesser whitethroat, garden warbler, icterine warbler, spotted flycatcher and pied flycatcher, and last of all, when the leaves are well out, the golden oriole. All these birds remain to breed. The turtle dove, cuckoo and wryneck are usual spring visitors. On one occasion was privileged to see and hear a red. throated flycatcher, which visited the Tiergarten at the beginning of June and stayed several days. In autumn the golden-crested wren arrives in considerable numbers, and the kingfisher snay be seen fishing on the lakes, where he remains until the water is frozen over. He is also a regular spring visitor. The white wagtail is a frequent visitor in spring and autumn, and once or twice I have seen the grey wagtail on the banks of one of the small streams.
One of the most striking features of bird life in Berlin during the summer months is the abundance of swifts. The air resounds everywhere with their shrill cries. A pair of these birds made their nest one year just above my window inside part of the wooden moulding, the centre of which was hollow with decay. Swallows and house martins may also be.-seen along the Spree and the canals. The crested lark is an occasional visitor to the city ; on one occasion in the autumn I saw four of these birds feeding on the road immediately outside one of the principal railway. stations. Another autumn visitor which I have seen on the banks of the Spree close to the Reichstag is the common sandpiper ; this little bird breeds on the shores of some of the lakes in Mecklenburg. Kestrels I frequently see hovering near the Reichstag and Brandenburger Tor. This bird is not as common in this part of Germany as the buzzard, which is very numerous everywhere.
Nesting boxes are provided in the Tiergarten and public squares and also in many private gardens. There are extra large sizes for the mallard and the brown owl. The former seems to prefer a box as a nesting site.
In winter food of all kinds is supplied for the birds. Many people, including business men en route for their offices in the morning, make a practice of feeding the birds in the Tiergarten regularly. Chaffinches are quick to recognize a paper bag, sometimes mistaking a news- paper held under the arm for a bag. On two occasions, whilst walking through the Tiergarten with a newspaper under my arm, I have been pulled up suddenly by a cock chaffinch, which flew straight against me with the intention of stopping me, as, when I stepped back in surprise, he alighted at my feet in front, and looking up, head on one side, called " spink, spink." No language could have been plainer. Fortunately I had some crumbs in my handbag, and the little fellow waited without moving until I had dived into it and thrown him some crumbs, when he immediately flew away. Another time when I was stopped in like manner by a chaffinch in a different part of the Tiergarten I offered him a crumb out of my hand. Without hesitation he flew up to take it but lacked courage at the last moment. After the second attempt, however, he took the crumb from my hand and then alighted at my feet to eat it. These little birds are at all times very tame, scarcely bothering to move out of the way of passers-by. The nuthatch is also very tame, especially in winter, when it will venture right up to my feet to be fed. I always make a point of scattering food for him within arm's reach, because I know that he is more fearless than the sparrows even, who will not venture quite so near, and so the nuthatch leisurely collects as much as he can hold at one time in his bill and then flies off to a tree close by to deposit the crumbs in a crevice of the bark before eating them. I have also found my nuthatches very clever at catching food thrown to them in the air.
D. YOR10E,
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