294 THE YORKSHIRE FEN 



thinking, for they made nought of me, but just settled 

 and bided where they were." 



Though this sounded rather like exaggeration, it 

 seemed, on reflection, likely enough that the storm had 

 brought duck into the " carrs." Flights of plover, 

 pigeons, gulls, and fieldfares had been passing all day, 

 and no doubt the duck on the large pieces of water in 

 the neighbourhood would find them rough resting- 

 places, while shore-loving widgeon and teal might well 

 have shifted inland. The great flats, though drained 

 and in places cultivated, were once a paradise for fowl, 

 and in the particular corner in which I was, the quiet 

 dykes and drains were in many places bordered by tall 

 plantations, and fringed by deep beds of reeds and 

 bulrushes. In some, where the water hardly ever 

 freezes, duck may be found at all hours in a hard frost. 

 At any rate it seemed worth trying, so unchaining an 

 old half retriever, half water spaniel, and putting on a 

 covert-coat, comforter, and cap with flaps to keep the 

 rain out of my ears, I started for the " carrs." At the 

 bottom of the park, where the flat land begins, a stream 

 bubbles up, and flows by the side of a dark plantation 

 for half-a-mile before joining one of the drains of the 

 " carr." The water seems to be warm, for all through the 

 winter cresses and other green weeds grow there, and in 

 a hard frost the steam may be seen rising from it like 

 smoke. Naturally, it is a favourite feeding ground at 

 night, and to-day was more than likely to give a shot. 

 The wind was howling so loud through the tree-tops 

 that even the wary moor-hens failed to hear my steps, 



