80 A LONG DAY WITH THE BIRDS 
tained a glorious view. Wooded and ploughed 
slopes spread away for fifteen or twenty 
miles all tending gradually towards the plateau 
which we had left. Two or three of the now 
disappearing old windmills dotted the hori- 
zon line, placed thus high to catch the 
wind. On the top of one many jackdaws’ 
nests had been made. Some hop kilns, too 
(relics of a departing (?)industry) were visible. 
The large steamers on the Thames were 
much dwarfed now by distance, but their 
hooters were still just audible, booming up 
over the extensive marshlands. The part on 
which we stood was called Blackberry Hill, 
because this fruit was once cultivated here 
with great success, on the warm _ hillsides 
that faced west and south. The bushes had 
been planted in isolated clumps to permit 
of the fruit being picked, but were not now 
tended. Behind was a large dense wood, 
into which many rabbits and a few hares had 
disappeared on our approach. This spot, 
quiet and secluded but only one of many like 
it, was, of course, an ideal place for nests. 
