408 
THE NATURALIST IN NIDDERDALE. 
By Joszpu Lucas, F.G.S. 
(Concluded from p. 370.) 
Pateley Bridge lies at the centre of a circle of somewhat over 
forty miles radius that passes through several points on the 
eastern and western seaboard. Thus it is forty-one miles from 
the T'ees-mouth, forty-three from Morecambe Bay, forty-seven 
from the Ribble near Preston, and forty-five from the Humber at 
Goole. This central position, taken with the great vertical range 
of the district, 100 to 2300 feet, is eminently favourable for the 
occurrence of birds, resident, marine, migratory, and casual. 
Sea-birds occasionally find their way across, and perhaps I should 
say not uncommonly, if all the occasions on which they have done 
so had been placed on record. In the summer Gulls slowly flap 
their way all along the eastern slopes of these hills. In June, 1868, 
I saw one above Billing Hill, in Airedale; on July 29th, 1869, one 
over Haverah Park; and on May 11th and 13th, 1871, a Lesser 
Black-backed Gull at Kettlewell, in Wharfedale. A young: 
Gannet, in speckled plumage, was found on Bewerley Moor 
(1000 feet) in 1858, and is now in the possession of Mr. Yorke, of 
Bewerley Hall. — 
In the absence of any recent records of the Golden Eagle in 
the district, the names of “ Arna Nab,” -“‘ Arncliff,” “ Arnagill,” 
indicate that it formerly bred on these hills. Buzzards are occa- 
sionally seen on the moors. At Christmas, 1868, Mr. Yorke’s 
keepers trapped a Common Buzzard on Gouthwaite Moor (1200— 
1500 feet). Mr. Ormerod shot a Rough-legged Buzzard on the 
moors near Lofthouse about 1864. The Rough-legged Buzzard 
is said to be commoner here than the Common Buzzard. The 
Merlin breeds on the moors. On February 22nd, 1868, I saw one 
a few miles west of Bradford; on June 12th, 1869, one on the 
moor behind Guy’s Cliff (1100 feet), a magnificent cliff with a 
northerly exposure, over 100 feet in height, in the lower part of 
Nidderdale. Its flight is swift, low, and graceful. As it flies 
its wings seem sharper than a Kestrel’s, and its tail thinner, 
approaching the appearance of a Swift. The last week in June, 
1869, Mr. Yorke’s watchers found a Merlin’s nest on Ramsgill 
Moor (1250 —1800 feet, N.E. exposure), with four young birds. 
