42 
NATURE NOTES 
Here a few wild Crab-apples still bang on the otherwise bare 
tree ; there the Honeysuckle is sending out its new buds. Over- 
head a Wood-pigeon’s nest stands out darkly against the sky, and 
in the thorn-tree at the side of the path a Robin’s nest is now 
quite visible. On that rocky height, where the golden flowers 
of Sedurn acre carpeted the ground, where the green Sage swayed 
in the wind, and where the Narrow-leaved Helleborine reared 
its stately head, all is now bare, excepting for a few ferns and 
for the dark green Ivy which clings to the white rocks. On the 
crest of the hill the hardy Pines strain under the blast which is 
blowing off the neighbouring fell ; but down below, where the 
steep path skirts the foot of the crag, there is comparatively little 
wind. The tall Larches, now so brown, rise like rockets from out 
the brushwood, where Tom-Tits and Squirrels delight to assemble. 
In parts the ground is covered with trailing Ivy and brambles, 
only too ready to trip up the wanderer. Great Pine-roots cross 
the paths, forming small waterfalls in wet weather. Close by 
lies an uprooted Larch, blown down by some past gale, its great 
surface-roots rising high above one’s head, with quantities of 
earth and stones clinging to them. Underneath the rabbits have 
been at work. While following the path, a large bird, interrupted 
while scratching in the moss, flies away through the bushes, 
keeping low down so as to avoid the branches until it reaches 
an open space, where it swings round a corner and is quickly 
lost to sight. Just behind that stony mound where the Grayling 
butterflies swarmed last August are the ponds inhabited by the 
Newts — queer creatures which are most interesting to watch. 
At the foot of the fells a few Firs, silver Birches, Rowans or 
Mountain Ashes, and Pines attempt to grow, and the slopes are 
dotted over with Whin and Juniper. The stone wall, which 
separates the woods from the fell, is covered with soft green 
moss, yellow lichen, and many kinds of ferns. There, by the 
gate, is a farmer busily loading his cart with bracken from off 
the hillside, where his sheep are now wandering. By the old 
lime-kiln in the hollow the Carline Thistle may be found, where 
the Gentian, Eyebright, red Bartsia, Centaury and Milkwort used 
to grow in the summer. On the top of the fell, which is about 
eight hundred feet above the sea-level, nothing grows except 
bracken and coarse grass, but here and there a weathered 
Hawthorn clings to the rocks. These rocks are very smooth, 
with deep fissures twenty feet or more in depth. These are 
filled with ferns which are out of reach of those “ trippers ” who 
consider it their duty to dig up (generally only to throw away 
again) every beautiful or rare plant that they come across. Bird- 
life is abundant : Tits of several kinds, Magpies, Jays, Larks, 
Linnets, Yellow-hammers and Sparrow-hawks, are especially 
common ; but the hawks are being killed off. Hares, Rabbits 
and Squirrels are abundant also, and Badgers are occasionally 
seen. 
Fernleigh, Grange -over -Sands. R. C. Lowther. 
