230 



to be two Ravens soaring, but they were not ill sight long enough for me to 

 be confident of their identity. Further on I cauie in sight of some fine old 

 Hawthorns which deserved the name of trees, and in one of them I counted 

 a party of fourteen Rooks sitting, but what they wereabout I could not tell. 

 They seemed to be holding a Friends' meeting, but the spirit did not move 

 any one of them to speak, so I changed my course toward the far corner 

 next the moorland. A Snipe flew over from the moorland towards the 

 nearest beck but did not come near me. In the afternoon I visited the 

 moorland. Here I espied a bird with its head tucked into its back feathers, 

 which looked from the outset like a Snipe, and on this I cautiously ad- 

 vanced. A pair of Peewits were calling and crying over my head, and the 

 noise they made caused the quarry to look up. I then saw it was a 

 Snipe, but kept quite still while the bird looked round it. Seeing, how- 

 ever, only what looked like an old grey tree-stump with some gnarled 

 branches near the top, standing alone on the moor, but which was in 

 reality the author watching the bird with a binocular, the Snipe tucked its 

 head in and dozed again. At this I advanced, with the Peewits still warn- 

 ing me off; for the second time the Snipe looked around with the same 

 result as before. With care I got to well within a hundred yards of it 

 before it flew up, and then to my delight, instead of flying right away, it 

 rose and "drummed" round me for about ten minutes before it finally 

 settled. Here I also saw Red Grouse, of which there are generally a few 

 to be seen on this tract, and occasionally a good pack; from the feather* 

 being found all over the moor one knew that it was a favourite resoit with 



them. 



The next day was spent in a visit to a neighbouring town, and on my 



way I saw a Corn Bunting and heard his curious song, also on my return 

 heard, for the first time, the grating call of the Corn Crake. The latter 

 bird did not seem to be anything like so common as 1 had known it in other 

 years, and this seems to have been the experience of naturalists in other 

 parts of the North. In June 18S7, for instance, Corn Crakes abounded in 

 this district, and in the evenings one heard their "scrape, scrape" con- 

 stantly. 



The morning of the next day broke dull and cold, with a high wind 

 and driving rain, so being curious to see how it would affect the moorland 

 birds I went up and took notes. Peewits were seen but were quiet ; Rooks 

 and Carrion Crows flew past and a Woodpigeon was seen at a distance, but 

 the Grouse kept out of sight. I flushed one on my way back and also a 

 Snipe, and for the third time heard the Corn Crake. The afternoon was 

 taken up in a visit to the low country to the south west. The rain which 

 had driven hard all the morning slackened as I left the hills behind me, 

 but the dull lowering skies remained. No observations of any value were 

 made, the depressing day seeming to cause the birds to keep out of sight. 



The next day was dull but not cold, and the Grouse which had kept 

 out of sight on the last day of my visit to the moorland were abroad and 



