The YOtfflG HATURAUST: 



A Monthly Magazine of Natural History. 



Part 77. MAY, 1886. Vol. 7. 



NATURALISTS' DIARY IN NORTH DEVON 

 AND SOMERSET. 



BY 



Miss PRESCOTT-DECIE 



AND 



Miss N. PRESCOTT-DECIE. 



APETL 29. — On the afternoon of this day we arrived at Westward Ho, 

 Bideford, North Devon. Towards evening we* went for a walk, and 

 heard a Grasshopper Warbler in the gorse, which grows thickly along the side 

 of the hii] above Westward Ho. Westward Ho itself is a curious place, and 

 one hardly knows by what word to describe it. It is not a " watering place," 

 for its raison d'etre is not water, but golf ; and it can hardly be termed a 

 village, for it is too scattered. It consists of a few lodging-houses (much 

 frequented by golfers), two or three shops, a hotel, the United Service and 

 Kingsley Colleges, a few private residences, and a little row of cottages where 

 some coastguards and fishermen live. Most of these houses are scattered 

 about the face of a steepish hill, looking north-west over Bideford Bay, whilst 

 the remainder lie on the lower ground, between the foot of the hill and the 

 sea. The surrounding country offers many attractions to the naturalist. 

 On the north side lie the Northam Burrows and a very long stretch of sandy 

 beach. Down the coast to the southward are eliffs and rocks, while just over 

 the hill, at the back of the houses, the country is as warm and sheltered as if 

 the sea were miles distant. The Northam Burrows, on which are the golf 

 links, consist of flats and mud, about two miles in extent. Some parts of 

 these flats are covered with fine turf, others grow nothing but coarse grass 

 and rushes, whilst others again have no vegetation but are strewn with loose 

 pebbles. On the side, towards the sea, is a line of small sand hills, among 

 which is the house in which the Appledore life-boat is kept. The Burrows 



Note.—" We," meaning here and throughout the article, the writers and two of their 

 brothers, 



