142 An Ornithological Visit to Warzvickshire. [Sess. 



facility offered for identifying the various birds, and absolute 

 freedom to wander alone anywhere on the estate, I cannot 

 conceal the fact that the results were most disappointing, both 

 as regards numbers and species ; but this was to be attributed 

 not to the unfavourable nature of the locality, but solely to 

 the inclement weather, which was of a most boisterous kind, 

 being made up of rain, cold, high winds, and hail — incontest- 

 ably the very worst that could be conceived for studying bird- 

 life. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, however, several species 

 hitherto strangers to myself, and unknown, or at best rare, to 

 Scotland, were marked ; and this circumstance may perhaps be 

 sufficient warrant for bringing the subject under your notice. 

 A very few remarks upon the county itself, before turning to 

 the other part of tlie paper, may not be out of place. 



Our headquarters were at a little inn in the village of Snitter- 

 field, about four miles from Stratford-on-Avon and six from 

 Warwick. The village itself is probably one of the prettiest 

 in all Warwickshire, and thoroughly typical in character, — 

 curious cottages of red brick, or the same whitewashed, with 

 high gables and thatched roofs ; creepers trained up the walls, 

 and beautiful little patches of garden-ground in front — some 

 laid out in flower-beds, others in lawn studded with fruit- 

 trees, which, at the time of our visit, were hanging thick with 

 blossom ; immense trees scattered here and there by the road- 

 side, overshadowing the houses — the whole place displaying a 

 peaceful air and picturesque appearance that is entirely ab- 

 sent from our colder-looking stone-built villages of Lowland 

 Scotland. Many of the neighbouring hamlets — notably Leek- 

 Wooton and Hampton-Lucy — are even more antiquated-looking 

 than Snitterfield, the brick building interlaced with huge oak- 

 beams predominating, and presenting an object of great inter- 

 est to one who has hitherto been unused to this style of edifice. 

 These combination cottages, so to speak, last much longer than 

 a stranger would imagine, many being several centuries old ; 

 but as age creeps upon them the oak beams warp, and in 

 the process twist the house at the same time in a fantastic 

 manner, so that it is not unusual to find the same cottage 

 leaning towards the four points of the compass, and yet the 

 building seems to stand as well as ever, and, albeit its dis- 

 torted appearance, to give the occupants no uneasiness. 



