RAMBLE IX. 



OVER THE BROADS AND SWAMPS. 



NEXT to the moors the Broads are perhaps the 

 district which has been least changed by the 

 march of civilisation and improvement. These 

 wastes of marsh and water, although many, many 

 acres have been drained and "improved" away, 

 still retain much of their ancient charm, and 

 though many of the birds that dwelt within their 

 aquatic fastnesses have been driven away or 

 exterminated by civilised man, there are yet many 

 more that still cling to their old-time strongholds. 

 Even to mention the names of a few of these 

 now banished birds is to conjure in one's mind's 

 eye a picture of the Broads in their glory, as 

 they existed centuries ago. We can picture the 

 magnificent Crane coming at her appointed time 

 to these marshy solitudes, and making her big 

 nest on the flat, swampy plain, where she could 

 detect approaching enemies from afar. We can 

 visit in our imagination the colonies of curious 

 Spoonbills that were once established here, those 

 big white birds with the spatulated beak that 

 were wont to dabble and scoop in the muddy 

 shallows ; or the long-legged Avocet with his 



