28 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



can repose in comparative safety. This spot is the 

 reclaimed marsh or meadowland which I have men- 

 tioned as lying between the Wells embankment and 

 Holkham. It is not a perfect sanctuary, since the 

 geese are shot a few times during the winter by the 

 lord of the manor and his guests ; but the dangerous 

 days are so few and far between at this place that 

 the geese have come to regard it as a safe refuge, and 

 are accustomed to congregate daily in large numbers, 

 two or three thousand or more being often seen 

 together. 



How intelligent these noble birds are ! The whole 

 human population of the country round are against 

 them, waiting for them morning and evening in various 

 hiding-places to shoot them down as they pass over- 

 head to and from the sea. This incessant persecution 

 had made them the wariest of all wild birds and most 

 difficult to approach. Yet here, where their enemies 

 are most numerous, where they keep the sharpest 

 watch when feeding and roosting, and when on the 

 wing fly high to keep out of range of those who lie 

 in wait for them — on this one green spot they drop 

 down to rest and feed by the hour and pay but the 

 slightest attention to the human form and the sights 

 and sounds of human life ! This camping-ground is 

 backed by the sand-hills and pine wood ; on the 

 opposite side is the coast road and sight of people 

 driving and walking, and nearer still the line of the 

 railway from Lynn to Wells. The marsh, too, is 

 fed by cattle and horses and sheep ; there is the 



