26 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



hour may be passed among the gorse upon the 

 summit of Berry Head in watching the actions of 

 the Stonechats and other birds. Swifts may be 

 seen darting hither and thither, screaming in their 

 joy; whilst fleet-winged Swallows search the downs 

 in unceasing flight, and the slower-moving Sand 

 Martins pass to and fro along the range of cliffs. 

 From the wooded coombe below the voice of 

 Blackbird and Thrush and Warbler sounds faint 

 and sweet ; whilst the harsh cries of the Herring 

 Gulls and Jackdaws are borne fitfully upon the 

 early summer breeze. Air and ground around us 

 are palpitating with song and life ; and far below 

 the blue sea glints and sparkles in the sunshine, 

 studded with trawlers beating up to quaint and 

 sleepy old Brixham, nestling in the valley and on 

 the hillsides. Up here, amongst the scented gorse 

 and heath and wild thyme, you may sit and watch 

 the comings and the goings of the birds, surrounded 

 with a panoramic vista which is bounded on the 

 one side by the blue misty outlines of the breezy 

 tors of Dartmoor, and the bold and rugged outline 

 of the coast, from the white cliffs of Beer beyond 

 Exmouth out to the hazy horizon of the Channel, 

 on the other ; mingling with all a thread of human 



