THE BROADS. 35 



we did, or didn't, get to Hickling. We reached an open piece of water, with 

 stakes across it, and thought at the time that we were there. Subsequent 

 investigation, however, threw some doubts on the truth of this belief, and the 

 disputed question still remains unsolved. 



We actually saw, during that day on the Broads, one Curlew, two Terns 

 (probably Common), one Heron, one Moorhen, and Coots ad lib. We also 

 heard the note of the Redshank once. 



Although everything comes to him that waits, even a Bearded Tit, it was 

 not until five years later that I at last made the expedition which saw me 

 return from Broadland a really contented man. I had, after a solemn promise 

 that I would reveal the locality to no one, got leave to visit a private Broad, 

 which was said to be frequented by the Bearded Tit, and the day that resulted 

 surpassed my highest hopes : I then saw Broadland at its best. With my 



two brothers and S , a volunteer captain possessed of an appropriate 



knowledge of firearms, I arrived about ten o'clock at the little village of X . 



Here our guide met us, and we were soon stowed away in a flat-bottomed 

 punt, and being steadily propelled towards the Broad. We had understood 

 that the Tits were to be shot from a boat, and had therefore come by train, 

 dressed in ordinary clothes, and it was rather disconcerting to discover, as we 

 went along, that the spot where the birds were to be met with was not on 

 a Broad at all, but on an undrained marsh close to it, where there were 

 " some dry spots here and there." With a silent prayer that the Tits might 

 see fit to visit one of these, we settled down to enjoy the beauties of the row. 

 It was a lovely morning, with the sun shining brightly, and without a breath 

 of wind, and we felt confident that, so far as weather went, we had stumbled 

 on an ideal day. The route lay through a forest of reeds and water-plants, 

 among which the most characteristic were the water-lilies, while a confiding 

 Kingfisher accompanied us almost from the start. Coots and Moorhens also 

 abounded, and the note of the Sedge Warbler resounded incessantly from the 

 banks. Where these were clear of foliage, we gazed upon swampy marshes, 

 which reminded me most of Wicken Fen ; it was the wildest portion of the 

 Broads that I had ever been to. And now our boatman, whom I shall call 



Z in future, turned aside from the main stream, and running the punt into 



a narrow dyke signified that it was time to disembark. My eye lighted at once 



on a large Raptorial hovering over a distant portion of the marsh, and Z 



asserted that it was a Harrier. We accepted it as a good omen, and stepped 

 forth on to a raised bank. Hardly had we done so, when a harsh note re- 

 sounded from the very dyke we had entered, and it needed no Broadsman to 

 tell us that it was the note of the bird we sought. I should have rendered it 



D 2 



