INTRODXrCTIOlSr. 



sorte, that in Tyme of breedinge one can hardly sett his Poote so 

 warylye that he spoyle not many of theyr nests." 



From this description of the locality, and from the number of 

 the eggs, and their situation, it would appear that this colony 

 was composed of Terns, or perhaps of the Lesser Black-backed 

 Gull, or it may be of both species. 



But no locality in the north of England had such interest for 

 the naturalist as Prestwick Car. The botanist, the entomologist, 

 the conchologist, and the ornithologist, were all equally inter- 

 ested in this one of natui'e's most famous nurseries. Here the 

 naturalists of the district had resorted for several generations to 

 collect the objects of their respective studies. And here also re- 

 sorted the sportsman and the general lover of nature ; for while 

 Snipe and Duck abounded, and the pools were well stored with 

 pike, perch, roach, and eels, it was the only piece of wild moor- 

 land left in this part of the county. 



This hunting ground of the naturalist lies a little east of Pon- 

 teland, and about seven miles north of I^ewcastle. It is an area 

 depressed, as if by subsidence, of about eleven hundred acres, and 

 is of a rounded or subquadrangular form about two miles in dia- 

 meter ; and the surrounding land is little elevated. The greater 

 and 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 cen- 

 tral portion was surrounded by a belt of good pastm^e 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 extended 

 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 to- 

 wards the cast, and one towards the west end. The cbainage 

 was through this sheet of water, fi-om which there was a cut, or 

 open ditch, to the River Pont; but the fall was so slight that 

 the di-ainage was vciy incomplete, and the water flowed back- 

 wards and forwards in accordance with the state of the river. 

 These pools Avere on a peaty bottom, in which the remains of 



