EARLY SPRING IN SOUTH DEVON 67 



feet; teal sprang clear into the air, and, with sharp 

 whistles, dodged as they flew at great speed; golden-eyes 

 and pochards beat the water with their wings as they rose 

 with more difficulty; but the bird of Slapton Ley, at any 

 rate in early February, is the coot, the wigeon a good 

 second. 



Ringed plovers balanced on the wave-rounded stones 

 on the ridge or paddled in the shallows of the Ley, and 

 meadow pipits and pied wagtails swarmed everywhere, 

 hunting successfully the winter flies which settled on the 

 warm stones. Flocks of skylarks haunted the pebble 

 ridge, and from these winter congregations odd birds 

 ascended, filling the upper air with vernal song. At 

 Slapton were no woodlarks, but small parties were on 

 the cliffs elsewhere, feeding in scattered flocks like their 

 open-country relatives; they, too, sing in winter and early 

 spring, but those most in evidence were busy hunting, 

 too busy to trouble about nuptial music. 



Few human beings were visible alongside the two-mile 

 lagoon, but one ancient reed-cutter was gathering the 

 harvest. On the pebbles and reed stacks were stonechats, 

 but beside the old man, seeking human companionship, 

 was a robin, settling cheerfully upon the piles he had 

 just cut and collected. The other birds shunned or 

 ignored his presence; the robin enjoyed it. 



