2 THE BIRDS OF BRECONSHIRE. 
as might be supposed. Our grand old 
Beacons are, to a great extent, destitute 
of bird life; on the other hand, the 
moors, which extend over a great part of 
the county are fairly well stocked. On 
them, as of yore, the Red Grouse and 
Blackcock, the Wild Duck, Teal, Snipe, 
Curlew, and Plover still breed, though in 
diminished numbers. Llangorse Lake 
unfortunately is so constantly shot over 
that what should be a “home for water- 
birds” now shelters only a few Ducks, 
Coots, Grebes, and Rails. Our rivers 
are, without exception, fast flowing, and 
water birds, unless pressed by hard 
weather, avoid if possible (with the 
exception of the Water Ouzel or Dipper) 
these kind of streams. The absence also 
of a sea-coast still further reduces the 
number. Notwithstanding these draw- 
backs, Breconshire, as the following notes 
will show, can boast of a fair average 
list of birds. Most of the rarer species 
are getting rarer still; in these days of 
cheap guns any but the most ordinary 
bird is at once shot down, and it is this 
continued diminution that has determined 
me to compile the following notes, which 
in nearly every instance have been the 
