CHAPTER VII

THE KINGFISHER--THE MYSTERY AND FOLK-LORE OF THE HALCYON--THE WATER-VOLE AT HOME--IN THE WATER-MEADOWS--THE MOORHEN AND ITS HAUNTS--THE REED-WARBLER--THE SEDGE-WARBLER--MUSIC OF THE SUMMER NIGHTS--WAKING THE SUN.....Pp. 187-216

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

_Page_

"_Among the lilacs_" 15

_The Wild Swan_ 17

_Mobbing the Great Sea Lantern_ 23

"_In days of pinching want_" 28

"_As man's familiar guests_" 36

"_Waiting for the signal to start_" 41

_Swallows and rain_ 43

_Grouse_ 47

"_One of the ploughman's companions_" 51

"_The plovers scatter o'er the heath_" 62

"_The delightful dotterel_" 65

"_Seems to act as timekeeper to the ducks_" 68

"_In the earldom of the Falcon_" 73

_Where the eagle is at home_ 77

_The Peregrine_ 81

_The old Cock Pheasant_ 85

"_Like Snow-birds that are happy without sun_" 87

_Crows at sundown_ 94

"_In some brake of fern and bramble_" 100

_House Sparrow_ 107

_The Corn-crake and its companions_ 115

_The Nuthatch at home_ 121

_Nesting-hole of Wryneck_ 126

_The Tit of Rowfant_ 129

_Long-eared Owl_ 137

_The Magpie's fortress_ 139

_Where the Kestrels build_ 141

"_Enhancing every charm by its transient brilliance_" 145

_The Eagle of the Sea_ 155

_Guillemots_ 157

_The Sea-Birds' citadel_ 159

_The Sea-Parrots at home_ 164

"_Where the sea-folk cluster_" 166

_Petrels resting_ 171

_Gulls_ 175

_Nest of Lesser Black-backed Gull_ 179

_Among the Skuas_ 182

_A Colony of Cormorants_ 183

_Black-throated Diver_ 184

_The King of the Pool_ 190

_The cave-haunting Martlet_ 194

"_When the ponds are all ice-locked_" 197

_Did I hear some one?_ 203

_The Water Hen_ 207