254 



THE YOUNG NATURmST. 



hurried manner. We flushed a missel- 

 thrush off its nest, soon after which a kestrel 

 came hovering about, when the thrush made 

 a dash at it, and it was evident that the 

 falcon thought "discretion the better part 

 of valour." About this time the tree pipit 

 was exceedingly abundant, never having 

 seen it in such large numbers ; they were 

 singing in all directions. The willow war- 

 bler I noticed building its nest ; I had seen 

 another building as I was coming over 

 Harden Moor in the morning. I only men- 

 this circumstance as showing the consider- 

 able time that elapses, after their arrival, 

 before commencing the cares of the " house 

 and the household." Possibly the male 

 bird precedes the female a week or perhaps 

 more. Some magpies were chattering further 

 on in the wood ; the gamekeeper at the 

 same time was hatching a plot to compass 

 their destruction on the following day, by 

 laying a bait in the shape of a hen's egg, 

 with a smack of strichnine in it. From 

 this wood we followed the course of the 

 river Wharf, to the southward, for about 

 two miles. Botanically, the chief feature is 

 the profusion of primroses, cowslips, and 

 forget-me-nots, with which the banks (es- 

 pecially the right bank; abound. The bird- 

 cherry, which at this season is in full bloom, 

 forms a conspicuous object in the line of 

 trees which fringe the river side. The pied 

 flycatcher about here was the commonest 

 bird seen, but had scarcely begun incuba- 

 tion ; we found one nest, however, in a hole 

 of a tree (I have never found its nest in any 

 other situation yet), but which contained no 

 eggs. The dipper was also very common 

 all along the river side. I found one nest 

 placed against the side of a rock, which was 

 thickly covered with moss, and with which 

 it so closely assimilated, that I could not 

 but express my admiration at the protective 

 instinct which taught the birds thus to con- 

 ceal their enemies. The common sandpiper 

 is another characteristic bird which breeds 



abundantly on the banks of this part of the 

 Wharfe, its shrill piping notes and comical 

 gestures, bobbing its tail up and down, as it 

 is seen perched upon some boulder in the 

 river's course, cannot fail to attract the 

 attention even of a casual observer. The 

 European globe flower here grows in pro- 

 fusion on the banks of the river, and may be 

 seen to perfection a little later on in the 

 year, when many flower together they may 

 be seen nodding their heads to every pass- 

 ing breeze. Within a quarter of a mile 

 north of Barden Tower, a moorland stream 

 empties itself into the Wharfe. A small 

 colony of sand martins have established 

 themselves here within recent years. Leav- 

 ing the river side we follow the course of the 

 beck till we came to a beautiful waterfall, 

 known as " Gillbeck Waterfall," situate in 

 a romantic dell, so characteristic of the 

 dales in this part of Yorkshire. The dipper 

 was breeding near this waterfall, although 

 we did not search for its nest. There were 

 two grey wagtails nests, both built on the 

 ledges of rocks, by the side of the stream, 

 one nest contained young, the other with 

 eggs hard sat. In was in this wood that I 

 had the pleasure of first seeing the pied 

 flycatcher alive, about the year 1874. My 

 brother had run into the wood chasing a 

 squirrel, when I called out at the top of my 

 voice "A Pied Flycatcher," but as he 

 thought I was quizzing him, to get him out 

 of the wood, he took no notice. Nature 

 seems to have had all her own way in this 

 " Gill." Some of the trees wear a venerable 

 aspect, all the branches covered to their 

 extremities with moss and lichens. In this 

 wood the oak and beech fern grow abun- 

 dantly, as does the tway blade. We find 

 now that we have only sufficient time in 

 which to catch the last train from Skipton, 

 which we reach in due time for the train, 

 and are whirled away, amidst music on all 

 sides from the Salvation Army, to the quiet 

 and secluded town of Bingley. 



