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the delight there is—the constant pleasure—in every country walk, 
in distinguishing the notes of all the various warblers, in noting the 
appearance of our summer visitors, and in listening for them— 
noting indeed the passage of time by the melody of birds. In the 
dull heart of summer, when Nature’s work seems done, how deep a 
silence falls upon the resting earth; but we are soon warned that this 
is but a short breathing space—another autumn is upon us, and 
the familiar bright-eyed Robin tells us this the first unerringly by 
his sad sweet song—how different to that he piped to us in opening 
spring! Some of our summer visitors indeed we seldom or never see, 
and yet would miss their voices. All my life I have been trying to 
see the Grasshopper Lark,! whose sweet tantalizing chirrup here 
enlivens many a hedge bank on many a summer evening. To me 
he has ever proved a delusive phantom; but this summer I will 
yet again make pleasant search for him. He is an elegant little 
bird, runs like a mouse, and chirrups like the shrill Cicala. 
We are very rich in Birds here; it would indeed give me 
pleasure to see a well-stuffed collection—well named and well 
classified—in this bright and cheerful room. I believe we have a 
bird all to ourselves here in Cumberland, unknown in any other 
part of England, indeed in Cumberland confined to only one spot 
—Devoke Water, in Eskdale—the Devoke Water Mew, a fresh 
water gull.2. Many a time I have watched them with delight in a 
wild, stormy evening in summer, their wild cries mixing with the 
plash of the rain and the growling of the thunder in that desolate 
place—sporting here and there, their long wings doing brave battle 
against the freshening wind. 
West Cumberland some years ago was a grand field for the 
out-door naturalist : Ravens at St. Bees, Buzzards on Blengtongue ~ 
—and now and again I have seen the Kite, with his wonderful 
sweep of pinion, soaring away over the wild roads on Cold Fell. 
Thereabouts also I have seen what I never saw elsewhere—Water- 
ousels building in a company—in fact an ouselry. Now in the 
case where the ousels were in the museum, there might be a little 
1 Salicaria locustella. 
2 The Black-headed Gull, Z. vidibundus,—(Ed.) 
