206 



THE YOUNG NATURA.LIST. 



Woolaston Pool, frequented by coots, and 

 over the river Stour, which gives its name 

 to the town of Stourbridge. Shortly after- 

 wards we came to the village of Woolaston, 

 where small tortoiseshell butterflies began 

 to be seen darting over the hedges. Rooks 

 and jackdaws were plentiful all along the 

 road. Rookeries are very numerous in the 

 neighbourhood of Stourbridge. Going up a 

 hill called Ridge Top. we arrived at the 

 Gibbet Wood, from whence we had a good 

 look round. In the distance we saw the 

 Battlefield, so named as tradition says it 

 was the site of a battle fought between the 

 Romans and the Ancient Britons. Continu- 

 ing our course, with banks covered with 

 flowers of the white, dead, and purple 

 nettles, and skylarks singing on high, we 

 passed the Foley Arms Hotel and Stourton 

 Castle, and a short time afterwards came to 

 Enville Park, where we got out of the car- 

 riage for a short time to explore. Enville 

 Park is a fine place for game of all sorts. 

 We saw quantities of rabbits, squirrels, and 

 pheasants, also a white one. Small tortoise- 

 shells were very abundant, and we saw 

 several small coppers and one red admiral 

 butterfly among the heather. Pursuing our 

 course we came in sight of Enville Hall, 

 where fir-trees lined each side of the wood 

 and piefinches appeared in great abundance 

 flying out of every hedge and bush. Turn- 

 ing sharply to the left we went towards 

 Kinver, and in about half an hour afterwards 

 arrived there. Kinver is a very ancient 

 incorporated town, and has a mayor. The 

 town itself is only composed of one street, 

 but it is of considerable length and contains 

 several very good shops. Going up to the 

 foot of the peak we got out, proposing to 

 spend the rest of the day here and return 

 home again on foot, so we sent the groom 

 off back by himself. Kinver Edge, the place 

 we had now arrived at, is a short range of 

 hills, tremendously steep on one side and 

 on the other a gentle slope. Passing by 



some cottages that are hollowed out of a 

 bold projecting piece of sandstone, we com- 

 menced the ascent. We managed to scram- 

 ble up right, except with having a few 

 scratches. If we had lost our footing we 

 should have rolled all the way to the bottom 

 and very likely killed ourselves. When we 

 arrived at the top we obtained a fine view 

 of the country. In the distance we saw the 

 Wreken in Shropshire, Along the summit 

 is the ruins of an old wall — no doubt it was 

 one built for the purpose of defence At one 

 o'clock we lunched, on a rock overhanging 

 a precipice, commanding splendid scenery. 

 Pine-trees grew all down the slopes, each 

 side and underneath. On the top of the 

 hills, violets were very plentiful and ferns 

 were just coming into leaf. We discovered 

 two colonies of seven-spotted ladybirds : 

 there were dozens of them running over the 

 stones. Lapwings were continually flying 

 round and round above our heads, while 

 down the slopes of the hills rabbits innu- 

 merable were running about. The gorse 

 was in full bloom, and was crowded with 

 insects of all sorts. Going down into the 

 valley we entered some caverns under a rock, 

 and afterwards emerging out of a wood of 

 pine-trees, we came to a lovely spot full of 

 flowers, where butterflies were seen at every 

 step. Small tortoiseshells, small whites, 

 small coppers, and peacocks completed the 

 list. "A good show for the time of year." 

 After roaming here till about three o'clock 

 we turned our steps homewards. Going 

 through the town of Kinver we passed by a 

 church built on a high hill, and a short time 

 afterwards arrived at Whittington, a small 

 hamlet on the river Stour. Here a friend, 



Mr. Y , overtook us with his trap, and 



kindly gave us a lift. The remaining dis- 

 tance nothing was seen very noticeable, but 

 we passed through fine country full of 

 woods, and ring doves were plentiful among 

 the trees. Altogether, we had a very good 

 time of it. 



