BIRDS OF THE HEATH AND COMMON 



Standing on this summit the breezy downs lie 

 at our feet. There is nothing to intercept the eye 

 until it reaches the misty line which marks the dis- 

 tant sea. The ground here from time immemorial 

 has evaded cultivation, and has been given over to 

 the pasturage of innumerable sheep which crop the 

 herbage to lawn-like smoothness in the gentle slopes 

 between the gorse- and whin-bushes. Indeed, the 

 whins and gorse spread everywhere, forming dark- 

 green thickets in the winter for the rabbits to hide 

 in, yet never failing, even in the darkest days, to 

 yield a few yellow blossoms in the sheltered recesses. 

 To-day the whole hillside is bright with the fresh 

 bloom, and the long banks and islands of green 

 and gold rest upon the landscape as it falls in 

 rounded outlines to the edge of the low cliffs. 



On the right, a ravine extends far into the land, 

 and in its depths one can catch glimpses of the 

 brown stream amidst the tangle of low trees and 

 (jverhanging brambles. Here the \A"oodcock and 

 the Short-eared Owls come in the autumn to rest 

 awhile after crossing the North Sea, and on 

 occasions, every stunted bush and wooded brake is 

 alive with the migrant Golden-crests. But these 

 are merely stray visitors, dependent upon the 

 seasons and often deterred by contrary winds. 



285 



