XX INTRODUCTION. 



tlie two Hovetons, each presenting in some degree 

 distinctive features, though alike in their general aspect. 

 Here, twisting and turning in its dubious course, the 

 river itself resembles the main channel of some gigantic 

 Broad, its narrow borders being still farther contracted 

 by encroaching vegetation and the mud and shoals 

 which almost stop the navigation in some places. 

 Drainage has effected but little change in these wild 

 districts, preserved, as they are for the most part, for 

 sporting purposes, and the level marshes below Acle 

 Bridge, with their lofty steam mills and trim margins, 

 give place, as we proceed up-stream, to a more natural 

 and unrestrained fertility. Deep sedgy "ronds" or 

 dense masses of reeds and rushes, shut out, at times, 

 the adjacent marshes. On the one hand a wide expanse 

 of swampy ground, relieved here and there with belts of 

 alder and birch, or dwarf coverts, suggestive of Pheasants 

 andWoodcocks in autumn, blends Broad with Broad ; on 

 the other, some slight recess in the waving reed-screen is 

 covered in summer with a profusion of water-lilies ; or 

 an alder-carr, fringing the water's edge, casts a grateful 

 shade in strange contrast to the surrounding glare. 

 Everywhere the rich aquatic herbage teems with bird- 

 life. Reed and Sedge-Warblers (Salicaria strepera and 

 8. 'phragmitis) , with their constant companion, the 

 Black-headed Bunting (Emheriza schceniclusj , are heard 

 on all sides, and occasionally, though yearly becoming 

 more scarce, the beautiful little Bearded-Titmice (Gala- 

 mophilus hiarmicusj may be seen uttering their sweetly 

 musical notes as they flit amongst the reeds. Coots, 

 Rails, and Water-Hens, appear and disappear at every 

 bend. Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridihundus), from 

 their breeding grounds at Hovoton, mingle their inces- 

 sant cries with the warning notes of the Lapwing 

 (Vanellus cristatus) and Redshank (Totanus calidrisj, 

 and the Common Snipe (Scolopax gaUinago), which here 



