82 IN THE WEALD 
in strange places ; for although the bird gets his living 
from the water, if he is not able to get the rest he 
needs, he will drown. It is possible even to drown a 
duck ; all birds must rest at times. 
The fields and the water-meadows are very large, 
acres on acres of hay, wheat, or root crops ; and when 
these are not on the land, and the fields do not touch 
on covers, permission is freely given to prospect about 
in the study of wild life. What a grand sight it is to 
see a mass of thunder-clouds top the ridges of the 
South Downs, fifteen miles away, and sail over the 
edge of the Weald ! There is no blue haze now in 
the distance that has been carried off by the current 
of air that forces the clouds along. These gather 
until they appear to rest in the very centre of the 
Weald, over which we are walking. A glorious sight ! 
Huge clouds, mountains of them, pile upon pile, seem 
to have their bases in the fields, and their crests above 
you, ready to topple over. There is the great expanse 
of the flat all around, with the hills that surround it in 
the distance. The cloud-masses are a dark purple- 
grey, with lurid tops of light buff. Here and there 
you will see great ragged streaks of steely grey, that 
show for a few moments and vanish again. This 
weird light throws all things up in strange relief. 
The distance is seen in detail ; as far as the eye can 
