172 In Pursuit of the Trout 



course, flourishes everywhere on this marshy- 

 place; so does the buck-bean and the grass of 

 Parnassus. These, however, were only a few 

 of the bright and sweet plants which our nose- 

 gays each day contained. Here and there 

 on the Common are patches of the glossy, 

 silken cotton -sedge ; close to the river's 

 brink, the yellow iris ; on the higher ground, 

 wild-roses and honeysuckle in any quantity. 



But the bird life of Bransbury Common is, 

 perhaps, the really most attractive feature of 

 all. Scores of lapwings perpetually wheel 

 about, uttering their mournful notes by day, 

 and often, when the moon is up, by night too; 

 you are constantly flushing snipe; and in one 

 corner of the Common, which the village 

 children cannot reach owing to the depth of 

 the boggy water, a small colony of wild-ducks 

 bring up their broods in security. By a little 

 creek I disturbed a party. The male bird, 

 though obviously concerned on behalf of his 

 family, withdrew expeditiously; whilst the 

 female, after feigning to be hurt in a manner 

 that struck me as decidedly overdone, returned 



