Bolam: The Natural History of Hornsea Mere. 37 
The coverts here are primarily devoted to his convenience, 
and some of the reed-beds on the Mere, and the Low Wood in 
particular, are his chief nurseries in Holderness. The latter 
is a sanctuary from which not even hounds could push him 
if he were minded to remain, and it is solely to his roving love 
of the open field that the Hunt has so often been indebted for 
the many good runs that have had their starting point here. 
The same sporting qualities have sufficed to condone the depre- 
dations he is continually committing amongst both game and 
other less generally appreciated birds. 
I have seldom seen Foxes so numerous, and so fearless of 
human presence, as they are at Wassand, and my note-book 
contains many interesting experiences of them; but I must 
here content myself with a summary of the remains of birds, etc., 
noted from time to time round about one earth on the borders 
of the Mere, which I used very frequently to visit, and in which 
a fine litter of cubs was reared this year. The litter was only 
one of several brought up in the immediate vicinity. Among 
these skeletons of the feast, the fresh remains of domestic 
poultry might be noticed almost daily, some fine Buff Orpingtons 
and other fashionable birds among them, more than once a 
large and full grown cock, whose size and age, if not his sagacity, 
might (one would have supposed), have deterred his being 
brought to so untimely an end. Wood pigeons, rooks (especi- 
ally after the young ones were fledged), rabbits, hares, rats, 
blackbirds, starlings, once the wing of a brown owl, and 
occasional pheasants and partridges, constituted the bulk of 
the remainder. Feathers and bits of various small birds were 
not unusual, and of birds more particularly under my care were 
the remains of several wild ducks, and on six occasons of a 
pochard. These ducks were all females, and no doubt taken 
from their nests. 
Public boating has for about 25 years past been allowed over 
the Hornsea end of the Mere, extending to about three quarters 
of the entire water area. Only a comparatively small portion of 
the Wassand end is now kept private, the boundary of the 
open water being marked by a line of posts stretching across 
the Mere just to the east of the Lady Island. The public 
boating is solely in the hands of Mr. Holmes, Captain Constables’ 
tenant of the boat-houses, etc., at Hornsea, and is allowed 
subject to regulations which are printed and posted up on Mr. 
Holmes’ premises, and in each boat; they do not permit 
landing except on Swan Island, and prohibit all trespass into 
the beds of reeds, etc., as well as any interference with birds 
or their nests and eggs. 
Before boating was allowed, Taylor tells me a large number 
of ducks used to nest upon Swan Island, and the adjacent islet, 
but only very few breed there now. The Lady Island is still 
913 Jan. 1. 
