INTRODUCTION. XXIX 



itself crops out above the sands, in others the sands 

 envelope the "rocks," and in the little pools just left 

 by the waves (nature's aquaria on the grandest scale), a 

 dainty feast awaits the littoral tribes in the shape of 

 various shell-fish, sand-worms, and insects, with an 

 abundant supply of Crustacea in shrimps, crabs, and 

 '^jumpers." Here Rooks and Gulls, in strange contrast, 

 assemble in flocks during autumn and winter ; wander- 

 ing Terns and Tringce of different kinds often pause in 

 their flight as they pass along the coast, and the 

 plaintive whistle of the Ringed-Plover (Charadrius 

 hiaticula) is heard at all seasons at the fall of the tide. 



Above cliff, throughout the entire range, we find 

 such an alternation of hill and dale, heath, arable, 

 pasture, and woodland as suggests at once an abundant 

 representation of nearly every family amongst our 

 Insessorial and Rasorial birds. In some parts cultiva- 

 tion extends almost to the edge of the precipice ; in 

 others, and more especially in the vicinity of Cromer, 

 gentle undulations are covered with the richest turf, 

 and grassy knolls rise here and there from the plains 

 with their sloping sides, and intersecting valleys, 

 covered with a profusion of broom, furze, and brakes, 

 enlivened with the sprightly actions of Chats and 

 Titlarks. Strictly preserved and admirably adapted for 

 sporting purposes, there is here no lack of game. 

 Rabbits burrow in all directions in the loose sandy 

 soil, and their holes, when deserted, form the usual 

 nesting places of the few Wheatears that frequent 

 these hills in summer. The Grey-Partridge, (Perdix 

 cinerea), everywhere plentiful, affords splendid shooting 

 on these rough grounds ; and the French Partridge 

 (Perdix rufaj from causes elsewhere mentioned, has 

 also of late become exceedingly numerous. Beyond 

 Cromer again to the westward, a wide breadth of 

 pasturage, only occasionally encroached upon for 



