THE UPLANDS IN WINTER 131 



towards us. It passed within thirty yards with- 

 out swerving from its direct flight, and both of us 

 noticed that the eye turned towards us was white. 

 It is most unusual for a crow to fly within gun- 

 shot of a man at Ipswich, and it is probable that 

 the crow was blind in one or both eyes. Had they 

 been touched by the frost or was it cataract? 



After a severe winter, drifts of snow on bare 

 hills remain longest on the south side, some- 

 times in a series of girdling zones. One would 

 expect the snow to melt quicker on the southern 

 exposures, but, in the northerly storms of winter, 

 the snow collects in drifts to great depths on the 

 lea or southern side of the hills, while it is blown 

 off on the windward side. Although the sun is 

 more powerful on the southern sides, it takes 

 longer to melt the snow there on account of the 

 far greater accumulation. 



Although the aurora borealis is not limited to 

 the winter season, it is displayed to greatest per- 

 fection at that time. One of the most beautiful 

 auroras I have ever seen occurred one cold clear 

 night in March, 1918, during the Great War, and 

 the superstitious might well have read omens m 



