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waters of tlie Great and West Merc on Mr. Birch’s estate. The 
mallards, as usual at this season, were distinguishable only by their 
notes, having assumed for a time the duck’s plumage. Many flap- 
]Ders, about half grown, and some, quite nestlings, were being escorted 
by anxious parents amongst the sheltering rushes ; and with the 
aid of a glass I distinguished a female Shoveller duck, a species 
which occasionally nests on our Broads, and which from her nervous 
actions, had, I don’t doubt, good cause for alarm, in a little brood 
close by. Two or three couples' of Dabchicks, and a flock of Lap- 
wings, busily feeding on the opposite shore, completed the picture, 
and a very pretty sight it was, with a bright gleam of sunshine 
bringing out distinctly the different tints of their plumage. 
About a mile further on, and still keeping to the “ drove ” 
road, we came last of all to Foulmere, also on our right ; 
but here, charming as is the aspect of this wide expanse of water, 
with its small green islets and thick belt of rushes at the further 
end, there is an absence of that utter wildness of character which 
marks the other two. Beyond the Mere the gables of a farm-house, 
barn, and cottages, accounted for the absence of the wild duck and 
mallard. On one side a flourishing crop of “ golden gi-ain,” fenced 
in and grown on the reclaimed soil, and on the other, within a 
wide area of turf walls, a splendid crop of turnips, marked the 
inroads of the plough, and the changes which still threaten the 
wildest spots in this agricultural county. On this tine Mere, 
though, like the others, showing evidences of having extended far 
beyond its present borders, I saw several couples of Coots and 
one small pair of ducks, which I believe to have been Garganey- 
teal, a species which is accustomed to breed on our Broads and 
inland waters. The Little Grebe, however, seemed the genus loci 
as I counted no less than thirty, and nearly all old birds in full 
summer plumage, so that their young were probably hiding in the 
rushes. Good perch have been caught in this Mere, and the water 
is extremely deep in places. A rising ground on the right, as at 
I.angmere, is covered with firs, but whether planted or self-sown I 
am unable to say. Bleak, however, as a large portion of this 
extensive heath land still remains, one can scarcely realise its 
lonesome wildness before the necessities of sheep farming led to the 
formation of enclosures, here and there, thickly planted with firs 
and other hardy trees, to screen the flocks from the biting winds 
