144 RIVERSIDE LETTERS xix 



doubt they likewise are not much inconveni- 

 enced by the frost. I see many creeping and 

 flitting about, under the ivy and along the 

 ledges of the old walls in the garden, looking 

 quite happy and well. 



The moorhens have not come up for food 

 this year as they did during other winters. 

 The reason of which is, I think, that they 

 have plenty of snugly covered runs beside 

 the river this year, which supply them with 

 the necessary food and shelter. These runs 

 are occasioned by the fact of the river having 

 been very high when the frost began, and of 

 its having fallen gradually ever since ; this 

 has caused the formation of huge flakes of ice 

 in tiers, one above another, along the banks ; 

 on the tops of these layers of ice the snow 

 drifted, whilst the water fell from beneath, 

 leaving long sheltered arcades, the ground on 

 the floors of which is probably unfrozen. 

 These arcades have little openings into them 

 here and there, through which the moorhens 

 no doubt pass, finding inside most congenial 



