CHAPTER III. 



BIRD-LIFE BY RIVER AND STREAM. 



ALTHOUGH Devonshire is certainly a well-watered 

 county, its rivers, especially in their upper reaches, 

 are by no means impressive, and the streams are 

 comparatively small and insignificant. But by way 

 of compensation, some of the rivers, especially on 

 the south coast, enter the sea by way of fiords 

 which extend inland for miles, and are picturesque 

 to a very high degree. One of the best examples 

 of these is the far-famed Dart. Then, on the 

 other hand, some rivers reach the coast across 

 tracts of low-lying and flatter country, as, for 

 instance, the Teign and the Exe, their banks 

 within tidal limits presenting large areas of mud 

 and sand at low water, and offering a congenial 

 haunt to many species of wading birds. A brief 

 notice of these, however, must be reserved for a 

 future chapter. 



