By the Brook. 343 
of the toad is still current, and some will tell you that 
they have had sore places on their hands from having 
accidentally touched one. 
They say, too, that an irritated snake, if it cannot 
escape, will strike at the hand and bite, though harm- 
less. Snakes will, indeed, twist round a threatening | 
stick ; and, as it is evidently a motion induced by 
anger, the question arises whether they have some 
power of constriction. If so, it is slight. In summer 
a few snakes may always be found by the stream that 
runs through the fields near Wick Farm. 
This brook, like many others, in its downward 
course is checked at irregular intervals by hatches, 
built for the purpose of forcing water out into the 
meadows, or up to ponds at some distance from the 
stream at which the cattle in the sheds drink. Some- 
times the water is thus led up to a farmstead ; some- 
times the farmstead is situate on the very banks of 
the brook, and the hatch is within a few yards. Be- 
sides the moveable hatches, the stream in many places 
is crossed by bays (formed of piles and clay), which 
either irrigate adjacent meads or keep the water in 
ponds.at a convenient level. 
A lonely moss-grown hatch, which stands in a 
quiet shady corner not far from the lake, is a 
favourite resort of the kingfishers. Though these 
brilliantly coloured birds may often be seen skimming 
across the surface of the mere, they seem to obtain 
more food from the brooks and ponds than from the 
