136 A MOORLAND SANCTUARY 



from all enemies, the young bitterns could be 

 taught to exercise their wings and seek for food, 

 in preparation for a later life of separation from 

 the parent birds. 



The heat of summer waned with the advent of 

 August. The purple of the heather rivalled in 

 beauty the deep orange that had taken the 

 place of a lighter yellow in the earlier blossoms 

 of the gorse ; and ab sunrise, when the bitterns 

 flew home to their sanctuary in the marsh, the 

 pale blue of the rolling mist, and the first golden 

 rays of the sun, blending with the colours of the 

 flowers, transformed the wilderness into a 

 paradise whose splendours surpassed even those 

 of the afterglow of the previous winter, when 

 the male bird was about to depart to the coast. 



Then, with tragic suddenness, the sanctuary 

 of the mere was violated, and its peace disturbed. 

 Early one morning, before the moon had set, and 

 while the bitterns as usual were feeding in the 

 gorge, an old, unmated fox, that for years had 

 haunted the lonely countryside, trotted leisurely 

 down the sheep-path past the farmstead, and 

 across the rough hillside, to drink at the brook. 

 He discovered, as he stooped by the water's 

 edge, that the scent of a young hare was fresh 

 on the sodden grass, but, as he followed the line 

 for some distance by the only safe track-way 

 through the marsh, it became faint and was lost 



