Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/299



a field for ornithological observation, I know no district of similar extent so entirely barren as the well-known Lake country. Residing within thirty miles of the heart of this district, it may be easily imagined that I should lose no opportunity of exploring its mountains and valleys, and thus pursuing the study of Natural History amidst some of the finest scenery our island can afford. The result is, however, most disappointing so far as animal life is concerned. During a three days' walking tour in the early part of June last, in the course of which I traversed a distance of about sixty miles, chiefly by unfrequented paths, the only birds which came under my notice, exclusive of those commoner species which seldom seem to wander far from human habitations, were a few pairs of Buzzards and Ravens, which I am glad to see still hold their own amidst the more inaccessible peaks in the neighbourhood of the higher mountains; a Merlin caught in a trap; a few Grouse, one of which I put up on Burnmoor—evidently the mother of a brood—succeeded, by feigning lameness, in leading a spaniel which accompanied me at least half a mile across the heather; a couple of Ring Ouzels; several Cuckoos; a Heron, which flew across Rydal Water, where floated a few Coots and Wild Ducks; a pair of Common Sandpipers sitting on the edge of Wastwater; a number of Curlews, which, to judge from their clamour, were breeding on the high ground above Ullswater; and some Gulls, chiefly Lesser Blackbacks, which are said to nest on some of the islands in Windermere.