THE WAVENRY VALLEY 2 i5 



marsh at the same time, and if the purchaser of the litter on 

 our poor's marsh finds a better bottom of litter on this marsh 

 he generally appropriates it to his own use. Between this 

 marsh and our poor's marsh runs a big dyke, but it is 

 quite grown up with tall reeds, the stubbs of which give a 

 good foothold and facilitate invasions whether with scythe or 

 gun. 



In the most secluded nooks of this over- grown waterway 

 a small colony of reed pheasants or bearded tits took up their 

 abode, and I watched them on many an occasion and for many 

 an hour at a time until an unfortunate episode, alike to myself 

 and to the birds, gave a clue to their value to one nicknamed 

 " Snookey," a ne'er-do-weel, a loafer at the village pub, and 

 an ubiquitous prowler with a long single-barrelled, muzzle- 

 loading gun of ancient date and pattern. 



How it came about, happened as follows : 



It was a lovely day in February, the sun was hot and the 

 birds were flitting through the yellow reed stems, lively and 

 musical, whistling their sweet silvery notes, which can only 

 be likened to the tinkling of fairy bells. As the colony moved 

 so did I, and with my glasses to my eyes I wandered on un- 

 heedingly. Suddenly, to my consternation, I walked into a 

 mud-hole, and as I floundered about waist deep in the slime I 

 gave vent to a prolonged and heartfelt exclamation commenc- 

 ing with D, which can be expressed in three letters, and is by 

 no means unfamiliar to English conversation. Snookey was 

 at the time doing a prowl round the other marsh, which, 

 according to him, " if it wasn't part of our poor's marsh, ought 

 to have been." He heard the involuntary remark, which, in 

 his limited vocabulary, he evidently mistook for a term of en- 

 dearment or of salutation. Splashing through the belt of 

 reeds which divided us he was quickly with me and soon 

 helped to extract me from the unpleasant predicament in 

 which I was placed. 



One thing led to another, and in a weak moment I blurted 

 out the reason of my mishap. " Well," says Snookey, " I hev 

 often heered them things a-kicking up a hulla-ba-loo in the 



