206 A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



landers in stature, but let us hope that they may become, as 

 they grow older, Little Englanders no longer. 



Let me go to Ireland and see the Red Deer in County 

 Kerry ; pitch me down on the banks of the Shannon ; let me 

 watch the Otter fishing out the Salmon from the waters of the 

 Anna Liffey; let me wander round the coast amongst the 

 hordes of Sea Birds, dwell amidst the Shamrock, and I will 

 be content. Ireland is a too little explored Country, and its 

 Fauna has I believe much that will interest future Naturalists 

 who care to make their studies in the sister Isle. 



Let me go to Westmoreland, amongst those lovely Winder- 

 mere Lakes, here is loveliness indeed ; cannot I pay a visit to 

 the huge colony of Black-Headed Gulls at Drigg Marsh ; and 

 may I study elsewhere the Tadpoles and the Frogs; the 

 Water Newts in all their various stages and life habits? Why 

 I might spend a lifetime observing our Wild Fowl for we still 

 possess, although so much of our land is cultivated, more 

 species of Wild Fowl than any other Country in the world! 



What of a peaceful evening in some quiet secluded spot in 

 England during the month of May? To listen to the jarring 

 warble of the Nightjar, the droning of a Moth or Beetle, the tink- 

 ling of the Sheep Bells, the bark of a distant Watch Dog, the 

 closing of a lattice gate by some returning lover, the advent 

 of the Stars, the hoot of an Owl, the cock-up of a startled 

 Pheasant ; then Philomel captivates us as he starts up that 

 'Jug, jug, jug,' from out the thick shade of a blossoming 

 thorn ! 



What more delightful excursion than to gallant little Wales, 

 little Country of big mountains, deep valleys and ravines ; to 

 wander by the Severn, and catch a glimpse from the mountain 

 tops of one of the last pairs of Kites now left to us as British 

 Breeding Birds. 



We must not forget to mention Hopland, how grand to 

 take stock of the rich clusters of which Kent County is so 

 justly proud ; and, in passing, the Cider Counties of Somerset, 

 Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester must not be overlooked 

 in their sweet rural surroundings, and fruit giving domains. 

 We can only spare a word for beautiful Devonshire the Fern- 

 land of England and must reluctantly leave to the imagination 



