Hospitable London
London is surprisingly hospitable to birds (but not to butterflies) as well as plants. This season the jay is thought to have permanently established itself in the central parts of Western London ; and among the rarer birds the black redstart appears actually to prefer London to the country. Among the surprises is an occasional corncrake, but this (I should infer) only flops into London parks when wearied by the first stage of its migration flight in autumn. On the subject of London birds two different residents in Kingston—one by word of mouth, one by letter—have expressed wonder at the regularity, in time and pattern, of evening flights of gulls over the district. Like starlings and sparrows, which are very regular and punctual at their roosts, the gulls spend the night in the same place and are particularly fond of the reservoirs. The most highly favoured of them all is the Staines reservoir, and I should conjecture that these westering gulls over Kingston are on the way to that popular couch.
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