COLLEGE WATERMEADS 59 



distinctive feature in winter-time is the number of sea- 

 gulls which frequent the meadows. They arrive shortly 

 before Michaelmas and depart at the end of March. In 

 such numbers do they come as to give a special char- 

 acter to Watermeads. They belong almost entirely to 

 the " black-headed " species, and very attractive do 

 they appear, with their coral-coloured legs and beaks, 

 as they splash about in the water, or rest on some 

 picturesque wooden palings, or sail in companies over- 

 head. 



The rank growth of grass in Watermeads is unfriendly 

 to the existence of rare and delicate species of wild 

 flowers. Our meadows cannot, like those of Oxford, 

 claim such a splendid denizen as the snake's head or 

 fritillary ; nor, as in the meads above the city, does the 

 beautiful buckbean put forth its exquisite flowers. 

 Still, in spring and early summer Watermeads presents 

 a bright appearance, with its wide sheets of buttercups 

 and marsh-marigolds and of pale lilac cuckoo-flowers. 

 Later on, the banks of the river will be gay with yellow 

 flags and purple comfrey, and with the still more showy 

 blossoms of the North American Mimulus or monkey 

 flower, which has completely established itself in many 

 parts of Hampshire. Between College and St Cross its 

 large yellow flowers reflect themselves in many places 

 on the clear surface of the stream. A few choicer plants, 

 too, may be found. In several of the waterways the 

 interesting bladderwort flourishes, and the rarer form 

 of it, known to botanists as Utricularia neglecta, Lehm. 

 A few seasons ago a strange species suddenly appeared 

 on a bank of mud, which had been thrown up out of the 

 stream the previous winter. I noticed a patch of 

 yellow blossoms which I did not recognise on the farther 



