20 



FEBRUARY IN BROADLAND. 



exclusively preyed, Lave done more to merit vengeance than all the victims hung 

 beside the really useful nightbirds. The marsh-harrier (Circles ceruginosus), pre- 

 ferring vermin to all else, may have cast longing eyes upon the warren when hard 

 pinched; but the keeper imagined him dangerous to his interests, and on the sup- 

 position condemned and executed him. Hither comes the gamekeeper a rather 

 uncompromising-looking fellow with a ferret in each hand, and a brace of vicious 

 curs at his heels. The rats have exhausted his patience, they have been woefully 



THE PENMAN'S COTTAGE. 



on the increase, and small wonder, when their natural enemies have been so ruth- 

 lessly and stupidly destroyed ! 



Here we are at length at the Broad margin. Yonder are our angler friends, 

 busy, it is evident, our glasses revealing them tackling a reluctant pike. Close at 

 hand are several ducks and swans probing the soft mud of the shallow l deek ' or 

 boat-sluice that is connected with the Broad. They are seeking mollusca and 

 edible roots. The fenman has thrown in some maize, of which they leisurely par- 

 take. How broken and colourless the sedges and stubble of other broad plants, 

 and how bare are the straw-coloured reedstems of foliage! what of it remains is 



