Yorkshire Naturalists at Dent. 299 



same old notebook I find references to Jackdaws nesting- in the 

 trees at Ottering-ton and at Castle Howard, and that their nests 

 were usually lined with wool ; if placed in a shallow hole in 

 a trunk or branch no sticks were used as a foundation, but if 

 the hole was a deep one enormous quantities were introduced to 

 bring- the level of the nest nearer the point of ingress. 



YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS AT DENT. 



Thi-: 183rd meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union opened 

 at Dent on Saturday, 3rd September, in delightful weather. 

 The rain of the previous day, and the difficulty of reaching the 

 place of meeting, undoubtedly affected the number of members 

 present ; still there was a good attendance. The party left the 

 George and Dragon Inn in good time on Saturday morning for 

 the investigation of Flintergill, Gawthrop, and the adjoining- 

 parts of Barbondale. 



Unfortunately the various sections were not so well repre- 

 sented as they might have been — for some reason or other the 

 officers of sections being conspicuous by their absence. The 

 party was largely geological, and was under the able guidance 

 of Mr. W. Robinson, the local secretary for the meeting. Mr. 

 Handly took charge of the botanists, and the meeting had also 

 the advantage of the local knowledge of Mr. J. Davidson, 

 of Dent. 



Mr. W. Robinson reports : — The g-eological party beg-an 

 work in Flintergill on the fossiliferous shales on the top of the 

 Great Scar limestone and thence climbed up the Yoredale series, 

 so far as the slippery rocks and storm water would allow, to 

 the Moorland road at about 1,000 feet. 



An extensive and charming panoramic view was here ob- 

 tained of the most divergent mountain scenery. The rugg-ed 

 Lake District hills, with Scaw^ Fell and the Langdale Pikes 

 standing out conspicuously in the clear atmosphere, presented in 

 the west a marked and singular contrast to the smooth-surfaced 

 dome-shaped Howgill Fells on the north, and the terraced, flat- 

 topped, Millstone Grit-capped hills in the east. And there lay 

 before us, in the immediate foreground, the pastoral, fairly-well 

 wooded valley of Dent, with whitewashed houses of statesmen 

 dotted here and there eloquently accentuating the peace and 

 quiet of one of Nature's prettiest retreats. 



1904 October i. 



