and the bordering fringe of straw coloured dead reed 

 stalks which look like huge stubble, and which are 

 now all that remains of the brilliant green flags and 

 rushes, which in summer clothe so much of the river 

 banks. The first bird we notice is a Black-headed 

 Reed Bunting (i5';;^^^;7>^ schcEuicliis) in the reed stalks, 

 and then some Linnets among the rank herbage on the 

 bank, while a Pied Wagtail flies across the river. A 

 Moorhen now disappears among the cover on the 

 opposite side, while still further down two more swim 

 leisurely to shelter. 



Nothing more appears for some time save a flock 

 of Fieldfares uttering their shrill cries as they pass 

 overhead, and a few Redwings hopping about here and 

 there, but now two birds on the water catch our eye 

 and the glass reveals them to be Little Grebes or Dab- 

 chicks, very common here in the winter. From a 

 dense reed bed a Coot emerges, but catching sight of 

 us instantly retreats into the forest of stems, and now 

 we became aware of a Kestrel hovering not far off", and 

 almost immediately afterwards of a Crow flying straight 

 towards him. With the greatest ease the Wind- 

 hover evades the clumsy charge of his corvine enemy, 

 and resumes his hunting further away, when again the 

 blundering Crow makes for him, and again in vain, 

 for the falcon flies still further off" and resumes his 

 hovering, only to be followed by the gentleman in 

 black, until apparently wearying of the incessant 

 persecution he sails away, and soon outdistances his 

 tormentor. As we go on we approach a flock of Star- 

 lings busily engaged in feeding near a herd of cattle, 

 and numbers of Larks rise from the short pasture and 

 settle again some way ahead. 



