LONDON BIRD SANCTUARIES. T HE Report of the Committee which was
appointed last year by Lord Crawford to establish bird sanc- tuaries in the Royal Parks is encouraging from every point of view. The birds are already responding, though the growth of proper shelter and natural food in the sanctuaries must take some years to develop properly. And the work is being carried out with a regard, first, for the amenities of the parks ; secondly, for the rights of the public ; and thirdly, for the interests of the tax- payer. All this is admirable.
The suggestion that sanctuaries should be formed came from that learned ornithologist, Mr. Harold Russell, in August, 1921. Lord Crawford immediately acted upon it, and appointed as Chairman of his Committee Sir Lionel Earle, who can always be relied upon to temper enthusiasm with economy. The Report points out, however, that it is not quite correct to say—there is probably an allusion here to a comment made in the Spectator a year ago—that money will actually be saved by the sanctuaries. Birds which are looking for a suitable nesting-place, of course, avoid like the plague places where there are gardeners eternally fussing, clipping and tidying-up. We thought, therefore, that to remove a certain acreage from the care of the gardeners might mean a saving. But we are now instructed that against a certain obvious saving we must set the initial expendi- ture in providing and planting suitable shrubs and the recurrent cost of cutting the plantations so that they shall not become too dense. At all events, the Committee do not recommend that there should be any special expenditure. No land has been withdrawn from the use of the public, nor have places which were flower-gardens been improperly chosen for transformation into bird-cover. But we shall best explain what has been done, and what it is proposed to do, if we take the parks in order. In Hyde Park there is a large bank of about an acre sur- rounding the frame ground, and it is pointed out that if the grass and existing shrubs were allowed to grow and certain suitable shrubs were added the bank would make an admirable sanctuary. May an adapted version of " I Know a Bank " become a hymn of gratitude for users of Hyde Park ! The Committee also recommend that the enclosure near the powder magazine should be allowed to grow wild. The idea of converting the island in the Serpentine was abandoned as the expense would have been appreciable. In Kensington Gardens, on the east side of the Long Water, there is an area not open to the public which would make an excellent sanctuary if the grass were allowed to grow and suitable shrubs were planted. It is suggested that the appearance of the ground would be improved by mowing the grass for a few feet close to the path. This is a good illustration of the care and discretion with which the Committee have thought out their schemes. They know that they must provide against the criticism that some part of Kensington Gardens has been allowed to become unkempt. A wilderness where the eye is not prepared for it by the surroundings is, it must be admitted, a very different thing from a wilderness in its proper sequence of scenic events. The wisdom of the Committee seems to us to have been sufficient for the purpose. The true gardener knows that a well-mown border round a piece of rough grass not merely enhances the value of the rough, but draws attention to the fact that the roughness is not an act of carelessness but part of a scheme. The Committee also recommend that a similar enclosure on the west side of the Long Water should become a sanctuary.
In St. James's Park, of course, Duck Island has always been a sanctuary, although it has been chiefly used as a breeding-place by waterfowl. The proposal is that the island should be made suitable for other birds as well. There are also to be sanctuaries in Buckingham Palace Gardens. The King, when he heard of the sanctuary scheme, characteristically decided that Buckingham Palace Gardens should make their proper contribution to the bird life of London. Regent's Park is the most difficult park of all to deal with, as almost every part of it comes under the public foot. The only possible sites are the islands in the lake. The Committee advise that osiers should be planted on these islands, as nightingales and sedge warblers like osiers which have been cut down and left stubbly. The Committee were much impressed by the possibilities of the wilderness in Greenwich Park, and they recommend that two sanctuaries should be made. Apparently deer are to be reintroduced into the wilderness, and this necessitates the re-erection of railings to prevent the deer from damaging newly planted shrubs. Old railings can be used, so the expense will be confined to planting suitable shrubs.
Richmond Park is naturally the best of all the parks for birds, though a rare bird seen there cannot give the observer quite the same thrill which it would give him in, say, St. James's Park or Hyde Park. The Committee found that the Isabella Plantation had been overrun by rhododendrons. They advised that the rhododendrons should be cleared in the middle of the plantation so as to allow the brambles to reassert themselves, and also that broad glades should be cut.
The plantation contains a pool which had become almost invisible owing to the growth of the rhododendrons. It was recommended that the banks of this pool should be cleared, thus making an ideal place for birds. It was not necessary to grub up the rhododendrons, as if the plants are cut near the root, and cut again in a few years, they gradually die. Much has already been done in Richmond Park, and the rhododendrons have been cut not only in the Isabella Plantation but in the other plantations. The sanctuary which was established in Richmond Park in 1913 was found also to have become much too thick. The Committee suggested that much of the wood cut ought to be allowed to lie about in order to form thickets for nesting. The old raft on the Penn Ponds has been repaired, and there is now good reason to hope that the great crested grebe will build on the raft as it used to do. Other rafts will be provided. It is delightful to know that, if the advice of the Committee is carried out, every bird seen upon the Penn Ponds in future will be a wild bird. As regards nesting-boxes, the Committee are quite conscious of their value, but they have refrained from going to the expense of buying any. They have, however, been given several boxes, and would no doubt be glad to receive more. Some have been put in Richmond Park and some in Kensington Gardens. Small quantities of hair and wool are also being placed in the sanctuaries to encourage birds to nest. This is an excellent plan. Many Londoners do not know how many shy or rare birds visit the parks without staying to nest. If good shelter, good food and good nesting material are found in combination, the temptation to a bird to stay may be overwhelming. And if the birds only knew how safe they would be in London and what an admired life they would lead I Another subject with which the Committee deal is that of the natural enemies to bird life in the parks. The chief of these enemies are cats and grey squirrels. Some years ago the Office of Works made some tests in order to discover a cat-proof fence. No such fence could be found. The cats climbed every fence submitted, " That's that," we fear. Nor can we be more optimistic about the grey squirrels. The squirrels are prolific and adventurous. The present writer not long ago saw one run across Maida Vale from one garden to another. It did not, it is true, actually dodge the motor-buses, for there happened to be an unusual interval in the traffic, but the crossing was none the less a splendid proof of the daring errantry of the grey squirrel. The Committee appreciate the fact that the public in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens might deliberately prefer a squirrel in the hand to a bird in the bush, and therefore they do not propose to do more there than keep the squirrels down. They suggest, however, that in Richmond Park the squirrels should be as far as possible exterminated.
Mr. Harold Russell has provided a list of birds which nested in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in 1922. Among them were the lesser whitethroat, the willow wren, the spotted flycatcher, the carrion crow, the tawny owl, and the pheasant. Among those that did not nest but were seen were the widgeon, the woodcock, the cuckoo, the snipe, the sandpiper and the great crested grebe. A similar list provided by Mr. Rudge Harding for Rich- mond Park shows that among the nesters were the nuthatch, the red-backed shrike, the greater spotted woodpecker, the lesser spotted woodpecker, the green woodpecker, the nightjar and the sparrowhawk. In all probability nightingales, barn owls, long-eared owls and tawny owls still nest in Richmond Park, as they were observed to do a few years ago.
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