BIRD LIFE ON THE BROADS 



To the naturalist who is intent on observing and 

 not slaying such unfamiliar birds as he may meet 

 with in the course of his rambles, there are few 

 more attractive places in England than the Norfolk 

 Broads. And this for several reasons. They lie 

 out of the beaten track, and to be seen must be 

 made the object of a special expedition ; the scenery 

 is very unlike what most people are accustomed to, 

 reminding one more of Holland than of England, 

 while the class of birds one meets with at every 

 turn are more or less of a kind unfamiliar to the 

 majority of wayfarers. This, of course, might be 

 expected from the general aspect of the country, 

 which is sui generis, and characterised by its ex- 

 treme flatness, the superabundance of water, the 

 absence of trees, and the luxuriant growth of sedge, 

 bullrush, and yellow iris. Deep, sedgy " ronds," 

 or dense masses of reeds and rushes shut out at 

 times the adjacent marshes. On the one hand, to 

 quote Mr Stevenson, a wide expanse of swampy 

 ground, relieved here and there with belts of alder 

 and birch, or dwarf coverts suggestive of pheasants 

 and woodcocks in autumn, blends broad with 

 broad ; on the other, some slight recess in the 

 wavine reed screen is covered in summer with a 



