THE VILLAGE THRUSH 81 



The larger lake on our left is also very 

 beautiful, but stands out clearer than 

 the other, for its margins are not over- 

 grown with reeds and bushes. Just a 

 few there are, with the willow branches 

 dipping in the water, but for the most 

 part it is surrounded with large grey 

 boulders. Right away in the corner 

 there are some reeds, just where another 

 small stream feeds it, and round here 

 you see a number of birds. It was on 

 this bank that one evening, without 

 moving from the spot where I was 

 standing, I counted forty-nine Great- 

 crested Grebes. Just over the reeds we 

 see here and there a chimney, a red roof 

 or gleaming glass showing between the 

 elms, and you just hear the faint noise 

 of trickling water as it flows over the 

 weir. The whole of this sweet English 

 scene is intensely beautified by the setting 

 sun, for water always looks at its best 

 when the sun is low, shedding a wide 



