34 



TH£ HaWKEVE ORNITHOLOGIST AND OoLOGIST. 



For the ECdinkeye 0. and 0. 

 BIRD NESTING IN THE NORTH 

 OF ENGLAND. 



BY WALTER RAINE, TORONTO, CANADA. 



Yorkshire,being the largest county in 

 England, has more species of birds 

 nesting within its limits than any 

 other English county. Bounded on 

 the east by the North Sea, it has 

 many species of sea birds resorting 

 annually to nest amongst the cliffs 

 of the sea coast. Those majestic 

 chalk cliffs stretching from Flambor- 

 ough Head to Speeton are the nest- 

 ing places of thousands of guillemots, 

 razorbills, puffins, cormorants, kitti- 

 wake and other gulls, as well as 

 kestril hawks and jackdaws, whose 

 eggs are collected in baskets by the 

 .hundreds, and still their numbers do 

 not seem to diminish. At the report 

 of a rifle the birds rise en masse in 

 the air and darken the sun, whilst 

 their cries are almost deafening to the 

 ear. It is here that the peregrine falcon 

 still finds a place to build a nest and 

 lay its eggs, whilst the raven has for- 

 saken the place some * years ago. 

 Along the sea beach from Flambor- 

 ough Head to the mouth of the 

 H umber may be found nesting oys- 

 ter-catchers, ringed plovers and sever- 

 al species of terns. 



Through the west of Yorkshire, 

 runs the Pennine Chain from north 

 to south and here are some of the 

 highest hills in England, which are 

 drained by the river Humb'ur and its 

 tributaries. In this mountain lime- 

 stone district of Ingleborough, Whern- 

 side and Pennyghent, may be found 

 some of the grandest scenery in the 

 British Islands, whilst the numerous 

 and wonderful caverns in this locality, 

 as well as the romantic limestone 

 cliffs over 300 feet high, are of great 

 interest to the geologist. 



For many years I have made fre- 

 quent journeys to this district during 

 spring and summer, which I must 

 say offers a charm to the ornitholo- 

 gist; and as many species of birds 

 nest here that are included in the 

 American fauna, I trust my readers 

 will just accompany me on a visit to 

 this place and let us spend a few 

 hours amongst our feathered friends. 



Leaving Leeds by an early train, 

 in company with my brother, in two 

 hour's time we arrive at Ingleton and 

 at once make for the banks of the 

 river Greta, intending to follow up 

 this mountain stream to Thornton 

 Force, the most lovely of Yorkshire 

 waterfalls. This stream can only be 

 followed by the sure footed; ladies 

 need not attempt it, as much climb- 

 ing over huge boulders must be done 

 ere we reach Thornton Force. Two 

 years ago a young lady was killed by 

 falling over a cliff, up the face of 

 which we shall have to scramble a 

 mile further on. 



We now enter Swilla Bottom, 

 which is a romantic gorge with 

 perpendicular cliffs on either side. 

 Geologists say this once was a lake; 

 it has but one entrance through 

 which we have just passed. It is a 

 paradise for birds; different species 

 of warblers, finches and thrushes are 

 singing away, each one trying to 

 surpass the other, but the sweet song 

 thrush may be heard above all the 

 rest, perched upon a Yew tree grow- 

 ing out of the face of the cliff to our 

 left. Vegetation here is very luxuri- 

 ant, hartstongue ferns, spleenworts, 

 parsly, oak, beech, and other ferns 

 are peeping out of the crevices of the 

 rocks, whilst the banks of the stream 

 are covered with sweet scented vio- 

 lets, primroses, lilies of the valley, 

 forget-me-nots and other flowers. 



Proceeding along the banks of the 

 stream, we startle a yellow wagtail, 

 and on examining the mossy bank 

 from whence it flew, we find its nest 



