Birds by Land and Sea 



surrounding it. Within a radius of five miles almost 

 every modification of which land and water admit 

 may be encountered deep sea, and shallows expos- 

 ing extensive flats at ebb tide ; shingly beaches, and 

 coves enclosed by the gravel walls of what also were 

 beaches in their day ; open sweeps of sand, and 

 precipitous limestone cliffs ; while, on the land, 

 luxuriant hedgerows and deeply wooded slopes, 

 meadow, marsh, and moor, with here and there a 

 secluded sedge-grown mere, diversify the gently 

 rolling land, from which the rocky outcrop pro- 

 trudes a frequent reminder of the more turbulent 

 youth of the old island of Anglesey. 



Early the following morning we were on the road. 



A glance over the sea-wall before starting re- 

 vealed our old inland friends the jackdaws playing 

 the sea-bird in considerable numbers. They were 

 feeding at the water's edge with a number of im- 

 mature herring-gulls, by whom they were constantly 

 reminded, and appeared as readily to recognize, that 

 they were interlopers, with only the tenacious im- 

 pudence of their kind to support them in their role 

 of uninvited guests. These birds were nesting in 

 the ivy-clad towers of the ruined castle of Beaumaris 

 in the company of somewhat elevated robins and 

 thrushes. I was surprised to find the pied wagtail 

 also nesting twenty feet from the ground in the 

 castle walls, but have since come upon the same 

 species nesting at a still greater height in the roof 

 of the ruined Priory at Penmon. 



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