4 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



the mill was in use. Of course the nest did not 

 always stop in the same position ; but it was very 

 evident that the parents thought this nothing 

 unusual, for they successfully saw their labours 

 ended. 



A low one-arched bridge, just above the marsh 

 level, crosses a wide ditch at Tunstall, near Acle, a 

 few miles from Yarmouth. The railway runs over it, 

 and a stout iron rod bisects the arch, only a foot or 

 two from the water. On this rod, in 1896, two pairs 

 of Swallows balanced their nests, each very like an 

 inverted saucepan-lid in shape. They lined them 

 with horsehair and Rooks 1 feathers. On to this 

 crazy support they fixed their nests by bracket-like 

 attachments of mud, daubed on below as if to shore 

 them up. Here, for all the frequent roar and rumble 

 above, and often furious draughts below, all but one 

 or two eggs were hatched out. 



Surely an odd place upon which to attach a nest 

 was a swinging half-door in an old disused outhouse 

 perched upon the wind-swept sandcliffs at Scratby ! 

 The door must have swung with every puff of wind. 

 A still more curious site was the open top of a pint 

 mug left on the shelf of a marsh-shepherd's hut. 

 Easy entrance was gained through a circular hole 



