94 THE LIFE OF THE FIELDS. 



noise. Early in the spring there did not seem a jay 

 in it. They make their appearance in the nesting 

 season and are then trapped. A thrush's nest with 

 eggs in it having been found, a little platform of sticks 

 is built before the nest and a trap placed on it. The 

 jay is so fond of eggs he cannot resist these ; he alights 

 on the platform in front of the nest, and is so captured. 

 The bait of an Q^g will generally succeed in drawing 

 a jay to his destruction. A good deal of poaching 

 goes on about Brighton at Christmas time, when the 

 coverts are full of game. 



The Downs as they trend along the coast now 

 recede and now approach, now sink in deans, then 

 rise abruptly, topped with copses which, like Lancing 

 Clump, are visible many miles both at sea and on 

 land. Between them and the beach there lies a rich 

 alluvial belt, narrow and flat, much of which appears to 

 have been reclaimed by drainage from the condition of 

 marsh, and which, in fact, presents a close similitude to 

 the fens. Here, in the dykes, the aquatic grasses reach 

 a great height, and the flowering rush grows. It is 

 said that this land is sought after among agriculturists, 

 and that those who occupy it have escaped better 

 than the majority from the pressure of bad seasons. 

 Somewhat away from the present coast-line, where 

 the hills begin — perhaps the sea came as far inland 

 once — may be found ancient places, still ports, with 

 histories running back into the mythic period. Pass- 

 ing through such a place on a sunny day in the earlier 

 part of the year, the extreme quiet and air of silence 

 were singularly opposite to the restlessness of the 

 great watering-place near. It was but a few steps 



