Introductory 



lies idly beneath the projecting bank. If the weather 

 be mild in late March, the fishes come out into 

 the channel and search eagerly for food. Then the 

 blackish-coloured eggs of the Frog may be seen aim- 

 lessly moving with the swaying reeds and aquatic 

 vegetation. Examined closely, these clusters of trans- 

 parent balls will reveal bright beady dots — the embryos 

 of the Frog-Tadpoles. Where the Tadpole hatches out, 

 life is active, energetic, pregnant, and full of interest. 

 Even while the gorse and broom are being painted in 

 yellow upon the bank-sides and across the commons, 

 the aquatic denizens are struggling for existence. 

 Every pool shields not only the Tadpole, but its 

 enemies. These aquatic poachers lie in wait amongst 

 the vegetation, keen to catch any defenceless creature 

 within their area. Such waterside birds as the Coot, 

 Dipper, or Moorhen, seldom reject such a dainty 

 morsel as an immature Frog. Even should the Tad- 

 pole evade capture during its early days, when it issues 

 forth as a tiny Frog among the grass some dewy 

 evening it may be picked up by some prowling Heron. 

 This bird is a most voracious feeder, and is account- 

 able for the death of many a Frog, even before that 

 creature leaves the water. Eels, Shrews, Toads, Newts, 

 Water-Voles, even Grey Rats, and many more, all fall 

 victims more or less to this gaunt bird of the brook- 

 side and tree-top. 



