196 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



are destroyed by hungry pike, and to this, perhaps, 

 must we attribute the fact of its seldom increasing 

 in numbers, even in localities where it is never other- 

 wise molested. As a rule the canals are too deep 

 to admit of birds obtaining much food from their 

 margins; but the insect life that flits over the surface 

 is sought by Swallow, Martin, and Swift. 



We must include a brief visit to the fish-ponds 

 in the present chapter. There are many of these 

 scattered about the parks of our northern shires, 

 and not a few of them are frequented by birds in 

 plenty. Most readers will remember what a para- 

 dise for aquatic birds the lake at Walton Hall 

 became under the loving care of the famous old 

 Yorkshire naturalist; how the birds used to flock 

 there in winter and join the resident population that 

 dwelt in that valley of peace. And this, mind, at no 

 great distance from populous towns and villages, in 

 a country filled with collieries and workshops, crossed 

 by railways, and many miles from the coast. It only 

 shows what can be done if we encourage and protect 

 the birds that visit us. Many a picturesque old 

 fish-pond we can recall in Yorkshire and Derbyshire 

 spots where the deep water teemed with fish, and 

 the big elms and horse-chestnut trees almost swept 

 the surface with their spreading branches, high up in 

 which the Rooks and Herons reared their young. 

 Amongst the clumps of iris and flag that grew so 



