302 BRITISH BIRDS. 



in many lanes the northerly gale had heaped up drifts 

 of three or four feet. Temperature had fallen to 28°, 

 the result being that the snow, which at first had partially 

 thawed, had frozen and clung to trees and bushes to such 

 an extent as to break down large branches, or to bend 

 shrubs prostrate to the ground. Even at noon it still 

 froze in the shade, and roofs and stacks, where the sun 

 did not reach, were decorated with long fringes of 

 icicles. 



What the effect of such an occurrence was upon bird- 

 life it was not easy fully to ascertain. But there can 

 be little doubt that young birds w^hich had recently left 

 their nests for the most part perished. I saw no trace, 

 after the snow, of broods of young Thrushes which had 

 left the nest just before. A great many nestlings also 

 perished, but no inconsiderable number survived, where 

 the nests were in sheltered situations. But it must 

 have been extremely difficult for the parents to feed them 

 during the two days when the ground was snow-covered. 



However, the manner in which many nests escaped 

 was truly marvellous, and indicated a wonderful devotion 

 and intelligence on the part of their owners. Lapwings' 

 nests, which, of all others, were as one would think, 

 most exposed to the fury of the elements, passed through 

 the ordeal uninjured. One, found by me on April 16th, 

 with four eggs far advanced in incubation, had been 

 hatched off on the 22nd, the day before the snowstorm. 

 On the 27th I visited the spot, and, although I could not 

 find the young, I felt convinced that they had survived 

 from the clamorous cries of the parent birds whenever I 

 approached the neighbourhood of the nest. 



A nest, with four eggs, in a neighbouring field, dis- 

 covered on the 17th, was quite intact, the bird still 

 sitting and the eggs warm. This clutch afterwards 

 hatched off safely, and yet the nest must have been 

 surrounded with snow six inches deep. The case of this 

 nest would suggest that in the other instance, where the 

 young had left the nest, they might have been kept 



