EVENING ON THE BROADS 275 



leaving everything that showed above the fields of 

 reeds cut out in sharp profile against the sky ; 

 thin clouds gathered overhead, and as twilight 

 deepened into night, these became of a crimson 

 tint which was reflected in the water beneath, 

 seeming even to give the green and brown reeds a 

 shade of crimson. 



Above, a Snipe was " bleating " starting softly 

 as the downward flight was commenced ; the 

 curious sound caused by the flight and tail 

 feathers increased as the bird, in its swift rush 

 earthwards, came nearer. Over a meadow, not far 

 off, another commenced a similar exercise, and 

 the first one flew to a marshy field beyond a 

 windmill on the other side of the Broad. Two 

 Reed-Pheasants were flying restlessly about on 

 my left, calling their young together to roost ; and 

 these presently flew to their parents, and were all 

 lost sight of among the thick clumps of reeds. 

 Their musical call-notes having ceased, hardly a 

 sound was to be heard, except the little Moor-hens 

 calling to their mother, one of which ventured out 

 into the open, when a jack jumped at it, and 

 pulled the young thing under water, breaking the 

 stillness by an ominous splash. The ripples ex- 

 panded on the surface, and when these reached the 

 reeds all was again quiet. In the shades on the 



