A VILLAGE BY THE SEA 193 



A severe winter brings to the shelter of the harbour, 

 and the reed-beds and sedges of the marsh, a number 

 of strange visitors. The beautiful snow bunting will 

 be seen in small flocks along the shore, and bramb- 

 lings mix with the sparrows and finches in the farm- 

 yard. The harbour will be full of gulls, the common 

 gull, the kittiwake, the herring-gull, the greater and 

 the lesser black-backed gull, in vast numbers. Flocks 

 of duck, becoming wilder and wilder as the gunners 

 continue to harass them, will congregate in the harbour; 

 and wild geese and perhaps a few wild swans may 

 pass over. In addition to the commoner kinds of 

 wild-fowl, such as the mallard and the widgeon and 

 the beautiful little teal, rarer sorts are occasionally 

 met with. Pochards and scoters and tufted ducks 

 will be brought in, and perhaps a few sheldrakes and 

 golden-eyes. It is not unlikely that a great northern 

 diver may visit the harbour, and both the merganser 

 and the smew have been seen. In the hard winter of 

 1890-91 a splendid specimen of an osprey was shot off 

 Horsea Island, in the act of plunging into the water 

 after a fish ; and a bittern which had taken refuge in 

 the reed-bed of the marsh was unfortunately put up 

 and killed. 



During a prolonged frost, especially if there be 

 much snow on the ground, the smaller birds suffer 

 severely. Hundreds of birds perished during the 

 long spell of frost which occurred a few winters 

 ago. Within the castle enclosure, among the ruins, 

 in crevices of the walls, among the ivy and rank 

 herbage, their dead bodies, stiff and frozen, were 

 found. In one hole of the Roman masonry six dead 

 birds — two starlings, three thrushes, and a redwing 

 — lay huddled together. Close by, in another crevice, 



N 



