MOORLANDS OF THE BORDER 3 



we also come within the outer limit of many of the more 

 charming - forms that characterise the lowland. 



Thus for example, at Houxty, on the wooded banks 

 of North Tyne, some 18 miles below its source on Peel- 

 fell (2000 feet) of the Cheviot range, there nest in my 

 garden, or immediately adjacent, practically the whole of 

 the delicate summer-visitants ; such as the blackcap and 

 garden-warbler, willow- and wood-wrens, whinchat, white- 

 throat, pied and spotted flycatchers : as well as many 

 sandpipers and, on the neighbouring burn, dipper, grey 

 and pied wagtails. And yet, within a few minutes' walk, 

 one may enjoy seeing and hearing most of the moorland 

 forms. Blackgame nest close by ; grouse, curlew, red- 

 shank, plover, and snipe within the compass of an even- 

 ing's stroll ; wheatear, twite and ring-ouzel, mallard and 

 teal, all within a mile or so. Add to these, in the moss- 

 stained stream below, the salmon, bull-trout, and his 

 golden-flanked cousin : and you have a faunal range 

 that few spots can surpass. This list, of course, is 

 merely typical, and will be widely expanded in the 

 subsequent chapters. 



Houxty, with its heathery horizons, its ferny knowes 

 and shaggy cleughs, sheltered by sombre pines, is so often 

 mentioned throughout this book as to need this intro- 

 ductory note. 



Westward, stretches for untold leagues beyond the 

 Cumbrian Border, a region of moor and moss as wild 

 as any in England : but less abrupt and of lower 

 elevation than the main line of Cheviots to the north- 

 ward. This, but three centuries ago, formed the field of 

 operation of mosstrooper and reiver : nowadays, the only 

 professional robbers are a few ravens and the big sea-gulls 

 that come to nest on its lonely mosses. 



