io6 Wild Life in Wales 



leave the neighbourhood of Llanuwchllyn in autumn, and 

 so, too, do the majority of the young Blackbirds. It may 

 be of interest, in connection with the migratory movements 

 of the latter, to mention that, on 2nd March 1907, an old 

 male, in full black plumage and with a particularly yellow 

 bill, was seen amongst the rocks on the top of Aran, where 

 there are certainly no resident Blackbirds. His bill was so 

 conspicuous as to attract the eye even while he was upon 

 the wing, and to mark him as either an exceptionally well- 

 coloured bird, or a representative of some yellower-billed 

 race. 



Just under the final climb to the summit of Arenig, 

 there is some wet ground, and a tiny lakelet of bright 

 pellucid water, fed by springs, and forming the head of one 

 branch of the burn that, by-and-by, finds its way down past 

 Cwmtylo. In dry weather it is little more than 



"Just a bonny wee well, on the side of the brae, 

 Where the sheep come to drink in the heat of the day, 

 And the wild moorland birds dip their nebs and take wing, 

 And the titlark may bathe ere he rises to sing." 



To-day the pool is of greater dimensions, and much of 

 the surrounding ground almost under water, owing to the 

 recent snows and thaws. Both here and in some of the 

 peaty pools, on the top of the highest ridge, Frogs are 

 numerous, and engaged in spawning ; they also abound in 

 similar pools near the top of Aran, and on all the other 

 mountains I visited at this season. They emerge from 

 their winter retreats, wherever these may be, and seek the 

 pools directly the snow has gone, and there is frequently 

 ice on the water they inhabit, covering their eggs, apparently 

 without ill effect. One can hardly help wondering that 

 such creatures should be found in such elevated spots, and 

 often under such inclement conditions. They seemed to be 

 brighter in appearance, in those upland stations, with more 

 green in the yellow of their colouring than their lowland 

 relatives, and to have more swollen forearms. In one place 

 I noticed a number of their half-devoured remains round 

 the abode of a Stoat amongst the rocks. 



