i887-S8.] An Ornithological Visit to Warwickshire. 141 



It is to the same process of " upfiltering " that most of our 

 Scottish straths and English dales owe their origin. 



Here may conclude the notice of this ancient lake-deposit, 

 with the interesting story it tells of its early history, while 

 its banks were yet trod l^y the foot of the primitive inhabitant. 

 Looking on the tons of peat and shell-marl thrown up and 

 spread out, and the multitudes of tenantless habitations, one 

 is led almost unconsciously to reflect on the time when a 

 luxuriant aquatic vegetation filled the waters or waved in the 

 breeze around its margin, overshadowing still depths where 

 innumerable generations of animal life flourished, and then 

 sank out of sight. And the northern portion of the cutting, 

 with its exposed fossiliferous shales, calls up yet another 

 scene, long ages before the underlying beds of sandstone were 

 tilted up on edge by igneous agency, and the cavity of this 

 ancient lake was gradually scooped out. Over the place where 

 these sedimentary rocks were deposited the sea then rolled, 

 leaving the remains of fishes and marine crustaceans to tell 

 the tale, — for there was no human historian to chronicle it ! 

 All this, and much more when read aright, is taught by what 

 some may have glanced at, and then passed by with a half- 

 contemptuous shrug, and a muttered " Only a drain ! " 



Yl.— NOTES ON AN ORNITHOLOGICAL VISIT 

 TO WARWICKSHIRE. 



By Mr ARCHD. CRAIG, Jun. 

 {Read March 2S, ISSS. ) 



During the months of April and May 1887 it was my good 

 fortune, accompanied by a friend, to spend a few days in 

 Warwickshire, and, thanks to the very kind permission of one 

 of the largest landed proprietors in the county (Eobert IS". 

 Philips, Esq. of Welcombe), I was enabled to traverse a tract 

 of ground several square miles in extent, wdiich, varying con- 

 siderably in aspect, gave opportunity for forming a fair idea 

 of the feathered fauna frequenting the district. With every 



VOL. II. K 



