BIRDS 
The county of Cumberland possesses a rare combination of physical 
features, all of which exercise an influence upon its bird life. The hills 
of such a portion of the ‘Lake District’ proper as happens to be 
situated within our political boundaries, were in former days the haunt 
of the sea-eagle (Ha/iaétus albicilla) which possessed several eyries in the 
neighbourhood of Keswick. It is believed that ptarmigan (Lagopus 
mutus) frequented the summits of the loftier mountains until the close of 
the eighteenth century. Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus) have nested on 
their slopes from time immemorial, while numerous ravens and buzzards 
rear their young upon the bolder precipices. The fells of the Pennine 
range are less rugged ; but they present even greater attractions to red 
grouse (Lagopus scoticus) and black game (Tetrao ¢etrix), and are also 
frequented in the breeding season by many pairs of dunlin (Tringa alpina), 
golden plover (Charadrius pluvialis), and curlews (Numenius arquata). 
When we descend into the valleys, we meet with many fine stretches of 
ancient woodland such as adorn the Eden valley, affording an attractive 
cover to the pied flycatcher (Muscicapa atricapilla), as well as to the 
various warblers (Sy/viing). The lakes and rivers of Cumberland attract 
a number of wildfowl in winter, but the greatest variety of birds must be 
‘looked for in the vicinity of the Solway Firth. Many large and im- 
perfectly reclaimed mosses, covered with heather and a variety of marsh 
plants, such as Bowness Moss and Wedholm Flow, exist in the neigh- 
bourhood of the estuaries of the Esk and Eden or the Wampool and 
Waver rivers. These secluded wastes afford breeding grounds to large 
quantities of gulls, including the great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) 
the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) and the black-headed gull 
(Larus ridibundus). Were the short-eared owl (Asio accipitrinus) not 
infrequently deposits its white eggs under a tuft of heather, which also 
affords a screen for the nests of a good many sheldrakes (Iadorna cornuta), 
though the larger proportion of sheldrakes nest in rabbit burrows. Hen- 
harriers (Circus cyaneus) visit the flows and mosses in winter, when the 
merlin is often more numerous than in the summer time. Our mosses 
pass almost insensibly into the salt marshes which line the estuaries from 
Floriston to Port Carlisle and Grune Point. ‘These marshes are flat 
stretches of reclaimed meadow land, used exclusively for grazing purposes, 
and are drained by a network of creeks which afford feeding ground to 
many waders, especially the redshank (Totanus calidris), which also 
breeds plentifully upon the roughest portions of pasture. The marshes 
pass into the open coast at Grune Point; but the shores of the Solway 
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