230 
Yorkshire Naturalists at Bing ley. 
which it now occupies, as shown from the results of borings for wells and 
other works. Commencing at Cottingley Bridge, and proceeding up Aire- 
dale to Keighley, these may be summarised as follows : — 
(1 ) The Bradford waterworks pipe track is carried over the river 
Aire just below Cottingley Bridge, and here 66-ft. piles were driven 
down, but the solid rock was not reached. 
(2) At Britannia Mills, Bingley — 800 yards from present course of 
river — a boring reached the rock at 90 ft. 
(3) The Vicarage near Bingley Church is built on a bog, and in order 
to secure a proper foundation, 20 ft. of peat were cut through, but as no 
solid ground was found, elm piles 20 ft. long were driven down without 
reaching the floor of the bog ; the surrounding strata being glacial clay 
and morainic debris. 
(4) In doubling the Midland Railway track at Marley — where it 
crosses the river Aire — circular steel cylinders of large diameter were 
sunk to a great depth in the river bed in order to carry the bridge. A 
good foundation was reached at about 85 feet from the level of the rails , 
but this was not the solid rock on the floor of the valley. 
(5 ) At Keighley the boring at Fleece Mills through glacial material 
to the solid rock is 80 ft. 
(6) That at Hanover Mill is 77 ft. 
(7) That at Crown Works is 120 ft. 
(8 and 9) Two sunk in Goulbourne Street are 67 ft. and 80 ft. respec- 
tively. 
As Keighley is situated at the mouth of the Worth Valley, and rather 
more than a mile from the present course of the Aire, the borings 
enumerated are important. It would appear conculsive that the level of 
the pre-glacial valley was considerably more than 100 feet below the 
present one. 
Vertebrate Zoology. — Mr. W. H. Parkyn writes : — This meeting 
reminded me more forcibly than ever of Jefferies’ ‘ I do not want change, 
I want the same old loved things — the same wild flowers, the same trees 
and soft ash green, the blackbird, the coloured yellow-hammer, sing, 
sing, singing as long as there is light to cast a shadow on the dial — let 
me watch the same succession year by year.’ 
This was the spirit that moved so many of us to meet on this occasion. 
With all these keen field men, very little, if any, living creature 
escaped observation . One of the most pleasing f eatures was the occurrence 
of six or seven pairs of the most graceful of the Wagtails, the Grey. One 
had fallen a victim to some bird of prey : the feathers were examined. 
The lovely yellow of some of the feathers showed how closely this bird 
connects the Pied and Yellows. Sandpipers were flushed from the same 
sandy bed where they were expected. Tree Creepers were noted, and 
these had successfully hatched off, and young were being fed continuously. 
Woodpeckers occur, and a newly drilled hole was noted. Kingfishers ; 
Willow Warblers in every few trees ; Wood Warblers ; Flycatcher, 
spotted only, although, to the mere man, we wonder why the Pied will 
not stay in the Aire Valley, although a few miles away, in Wharfe- 
dale, it never misses breeding. A Raven, passing over, was quickly 
identified by two separate parties. Redstarts, among our prettiest 
birds, were in evidence, and Whitethroat, although only here a day or 
two, had a completed nest. Dippers still nest on the banks of the 
stream. The Garden Warbler was seen and heard. The Mistle Thrush 
was in evidence in goodly numbers ; a pleasing feature after the thin- 
ning out of the severe winters of a few years ago ; these are now quite 
normal in numbers in the district. 
Wood Pigeons and an odd pair of Stock Doves still struggle on in this 
frequented place. Owls, too, are seen and heard frequently. 
A little party of five or six Twites was seen, and a newly arrived 
party of ten to twelve Cuckoos spread itself in very conspicuous 
Naturalist 
