296 OUT OF DOORS. 



waters, they edge the banks as far as the eye can reach, 

 and behave altogether as if they were ordinary tame 

 ducks. In the evening they take wing for the Lincoln- 

 shire fens, feed during the night, and return to the 

 lake by day-dawn. The first point that struck me 

 on my arrival at the house was the wild cry and loud 

 wing-clatter of vigilant water-birds, invisible in the 

 darkness, but quick enough of sight and ear to detect 

 the presence of a stranger. 



The whole place literally teems with life. Sweep 

 the meadows, the trees, and the waters with the tele- 

 scope at any season of the year, and each spot toward 

 which the glass is directed is as busy as a disturbed 

 ant-hill. On the lake may be seen Egyptian and 

 Canadian geese, mallards, teal, wigeons, pochards, 

 golden-eyes, tufted ducks, geese, and shovellers ; and 

 the only regret in the mind of the owner is that there 

 is no inlet of sea-water. Still the marine birds often 

 pay a visit to the lake, and the black-coated cormorant 

 has made quite a long stay in its precincts, fishing 

 boldly in front of the house, and gobbling eels with the 

 astonishing voracity of its race. 



The water-hens and coots run about under the very 

 windows of the house, and sundry other birds would 

 follow their example were it not for the jealousy of a 

 fine pair of Egyptian geese, who choose to consider the 

 .whole island, together with the house, as their especial 

 property, and drive away all other birds as soon as they 

 dare to set a foot within the sacred precincts. The 



