282 



NATURE 



\Feb. II, 1875 



wild and hilly. The Cheviot range attains an elevation 

 of 2,658 feet, and this, along with that of Simonside, gives 

 quite a sub-alpine character to this portion of the country. 

 In these uplands, the Eagle and Peregrine Falcon for- 

 merly had their abode. . . . The western part of Durham 

 is also wild, moory, and mountainous, but of less eleva- 

 tion. These wild regions are character'sed by vast tracts 

 of grass land, in some places fme, in others coarse, 

 boggy, and hummocky ; and by extensive moors of heath, 

 gorse, and bracken, with swamps, mosses, tarns, and 

 lochs. . . . Numerous lively streams in pebbly beds, and 

 whimpering rills, diversified with little lippering cascades, 

 abound ; some ahnost concealed under the scrubby 

 foliage of their banks, others fully revealed and sparkling 

 over their stony channels. . . . 



" The cultivated regions are in some places well wooded, 

 and the fields are mostly divided by thorn hedgerows, 

 giving at once beauty to the landscape and shelter to the 

 more delicate tribes of the Passtirs. But such, particularly 

 the warblers, find their haunts in our numerous wooded 

 dells, or ' denes,' which abound in both counties, and by 

 the shrubby banks of our burns or streamlets. Here the 

 hawthorn, the blackthorn, the wild rose, and bramble, 

 and undergrowths of all kinds, afford to these delicate 

 songsters the shelter and seclusion they require. These 

 ' denes,' of which Castle Eden Dene is a fine example, are 

 frequently well timbered, deep, and have a stream running 

 through them. The principal rivers, the Tyne, the 

 Coquet, and the Wear, not to mention the bordering 

 streams, the Tweed and the Tees, run through deep wide 

 valleys, with, in many parts, well-wooded banks, affording 

 likewise favourite homes for many feathered tribes. Be- 

 sides such localities, there is no want of e.xtensive woods 

 dispersed throughout the counties, and well-wooded park 

 grounds." {Introduction, pp. vii. viii.) 



Some two or three localities, on account of their orni- 

 thological features, obtain special mention by Mr. Han- 

 cock. First of these is the well-known cluster of the 

 Fame Islands, where in a limited area no less than fifteen 

 species of sea-fowls breed. We would willingly recall the 

 recollections of our first visit, nearly a quarter of a century 

 since, to that sea-girt paradise, by transcribing Mr. Han- 

 cock's description of its charms, but the exigencies of 

 space are not to be overruled, and we can only pay a 

 tribute to the memory of the late Archdeacon Thorpe, 

 who for so many years, ere Bird-Preservation Acts of 

 Parliament were dreamt of, from proud Bamborough's 

 tower threw the regis of protection over his feathered 

 tenants on the distant Fames. No such thoughtful 

 guardian had Jarrow Slake or Dobham Shelf. The 

 encroachments of the engineer have almost destroyed 

 the former as a statio gratissima ineigis, and probably 

 not a single Teesmouth gunner has even a memory of 

 the latter, though two hundred years since it entertained 

 " an infynite number of sea-fowle which laye theyr Egges 

 heere and there scatteringlie in such sorte, that in Tyme 

 of breedinge one can hardly sett his Foote so warylye 

 that he spoyle not many of theyr nests." Past also are 

 the glories of another spot, though they continued much 

 later. Hear Mr. Hancock : — 



" But no locality in the North of England had such in- 

 terest for the naturalist as Prestwick Car. The botanist, 

 the entomologist, the conchologist, and the ornithologist, 

 were all equally interested in this one of nature's most 

 famous nurseries. Here the naturalists of the district had 

 resorted for several generations to collect the objects of 

 their respective studies. . . . It is an area depressed, as 

 if by subsidence, of about 1,100 acres, and is of a rounded 

 or subquadrangular form, about two miles in diameter ; 



and the surrounding land is little elevated. The greater 

 or central portion is (or rather was, for it is now all 



changed) composed of peat, more or less covered with a 

 growth of ling and heather, and of boggy, hummocky, 

 coarse grass land ; this central portion was surrounded 

 by a belt of good pasture land varied with gorse or 

 ' whin.' Towards the north and west boundaries there 

 was a chain of pools, the largest and most important of 

 which was called the Black Pool ; towards the south ex- 

 tended another chain of pools, among which was the 

 Moor-spot Pool. The Black Pool could not be less than 

 a mile in length, and was of considerable width. There 

 were three islands in it, two towards the east, and one 

 towards the west end. The drainage was through this 

 sheet of water, from which there was a cut, or open ditch, 

 to the River Pont ; but the fall was so slight that the 

 drainage was very incomplete, and the water llowed back- 

 wards and forwards in accordance with the state of the 

 river. These pools were on a peaty bottom, in which the 

 remain's of numerous trees, chiefly Scotch fir and birch, 

 stood erect, and firmly rooted. They were not visible 

 above the surface of the water, though in droughty seasons 

 numbers of them were frequently exposed near the margins 

 of the pools. The trees were of no great size, and in 

 most instances the wood was in such a good state of 

 preservation, and contained so much resin, that it was 

 used by the neighbouring villagers for firewood." (Pp. 

 xii. xiii.) 



This priceless nursery of plants and animals and deli- 

 cious recreation-ground of naturalists was drained in 

 1857, and with its disappearance vanished many of its 

 frequenters. " The birds that congregated there have 

 been dispersed, and several that had on account of their 

 breeding in that place ranked as residents, have now 

 become mere visitants." Its destruction, therefore, has 

 not failed materially to affect the ornithology of the 

 district. Hence Mr. Hancock is led to remark on the 

 wholesale extermination of some species, and in one 

 point at least, that of the birds of prey, what he says 

 merits every attention : — 



''This policy of the game-preserver is of questionable 

 utility in promoting the increase of game ; nor does it 

 appear that much has been achieved in this respect, for, 

 after some inquiry, I cannot ascertain that either par- 

 tridges or grouse are more numerous than they were some 

 years ago when birds of prey were yet to be seen on the 

 wing." They are not, he continues, "an unmitigated 

 evil ; they are a necessary part of the great scheme of 

 nature, and may be essential to the perfectly healthy 

 development of the birds they feed upon. It is un- 

 doubtedly advantageous that the feebly organised and 

 sickly individuals should be weeded out, and this is done 

 by birds of prey. We have of late years heard much about 

 stamping out epidemics among mankind. It is a function 

 of the Peregrine and its congeners to assist in stamping 

 out epidemics among game-birds." (Pp. xviii. xi.x.) 



Mr. Hancock has some hard and well-deserved stric- 

 tures on the Wild Birds Preservation Act of 1S72, which 

 he rightly says shows the ignorance of those who drew up 

 its schedule ; but he does not seem fully to comprehend 

 some of the practical difficulties attending any such 

 measure. He complains that some species " stand in it 

 under two, three, or even four different names," over- 

 looking the fact that in different parts of the country 

 certain species are known only by one particular and 

 often very local name, so that if that name was omitted 

 it would in such cases be impossible to obtain a convic- 

 tion under the provisions of the Act. He also laments 

 that some species, " the greatest favourites of the public," 



