Page:Bird Haunts and Nature Memories - Thomas Coward (Warne, 1922).pdf/59

Rh of the house-sparrow came from untidy nests under the eaves of the farm buildings. Considering that Bardsey had been inhabited for about 1,500 years it is not surprising that there are sparrows in plenty, and yet Bingley was informed that they only began to nest on the island at the end of the eighteenth century.

The boat landing is a natural narrow fissure boats can lie in most weathers, but it is necessary, for safety, that they should be hauled up high and dry whenever they are not in use. One of our friends told us that he came one stormy morning to look for his boat and found it in a field a hundred yards away. A few boats are beached on the westward side of the isthmus, but they are not always kept there. Near the boat landing—Cefn Enlli—we saw a pied wagtail tending its young, and on this bit of beach and the surrounding tangle-covered rocks there were frequently curlews, oyster-catchers, and other birds; it was here that we saw a redshank, though, like a black-headed gull which was near it, but a casual visitor. Oyster-catchers nest all round the lower cliffs, on the grass or on the rock, and constantly keep up a noisy cry of alarm when anyone approaches their chosen stretch of cliff.

A few wheatears haunt the mountain, and on its western slope, overlooking the village, where low-growing sheep-cropped furze covers large areas, a single stonechat was evidently concerned about its hidden family. The natives cut the furze, bracken—which also grows on the mountain side—thistles, or anything else that comes handy, roll it into bundles, tie it with rope, and carry it on their backs to the farms. Chopped up small in a chaff-cutter and mixed with hay, this rough West of the hill makes excellent fodder. Thanks to the mountain the water-supply of Bardsey is abundant and pure; a well just above the monastery never runs dry and provides