CHALK-PIT HAUNTS 255 



and presented the keeper with half a crown. Her 

 words in making the presentation have been treasured 

 by the keeper : " This," said she, " is for shooting 

 the horrid badger." 



To the old chalk-pit, where the sun is trapped and the 

 winds are kept at bay, come all kinds of creatures 



for warmth and sanctuary. However de- 

 Chalk- serted the fields of winter seem to be 

 Haunts however silent and sullen signs of life 



are never wanting in the chalk-pits ; they 

 are as inns to wayfarers who search the country for 

 a living and lodging. Creep silently, against the 

 wind, to the chalk-pit's edge, and in summer or 

 winter, sunshine or shower, on a still day or a windy, 

 you will catch a glimpse of some wild creature, a 

 visitor, or one of those who have made their home 

 in the pit for the sake of sustenance or shelter. 



The sparrow-hawk may be caught napping on 

 some favourite perch, as on a stunted tree, in a 

 sheltered nook. The partridge covey may 

 When be seen for a moment, as the birds revel 

 sleeps m tk e powdery soil, roofed by an overhang- 

 ing ledge seeing you, they go whizzing 

 off amid a little cloud of dust. In the dead herbage 

 a wily old cock pheasant crouches, who long since 

 denied himself the luxuries and the dangers of social 



