THE FAERY YEAR 



The Erne 



But the headland, against whose brown side the 

 withy wood nestles, has at times nobler guests than 

 these. The peak, covered with brake fern and the 

 heathers, and now in oozy spots green-grey with 

 lichen that recalls to me the reindeer moss of Nor- 

 wegian fields, is visited by ravens and peregrine 

 falcons. The choughs have gone for ever, but the 

 noble erne, or white-tailed eagle, still thrones itself 

 on the peak from time to time. The grand wing of 

 the female erne, Amazon and Queen in stature, per- 

 haps, of English falcons, fully stretched is over two 

 feet in length. Some say the erne roosts on the 

 windy peak among the dead fern and heath, but 

 others are positive that it always retires at nightfall 

 five or six miles inland, and sleeps on the same oak 

 winter after winter, the " eagle tree." 



The Gnats' Attendant 



A quaint feature of the rising and falling gnat 

 column in winter is the close attendance on it of a 

 party of much smaller insects. These also are 

 members of the two-winged order of insects, psy- 

 chodae, I believe. They have no English name, 

 though we sometimes describe them vaguely as 

 midges. Several feet of space, on a bright morning 

 3*4 



