G. Christopher Davies

“ Frank said,—
"I should not have seen that moth if my face had not almost touched it. Its colour suits the tree-trunk so admirably that it looks just like a piece of the rough bark. I suppose it knows that, and rests on the oak-tree for safety."
"Yes," said Dick; "I have read that many moths and butterflies are so like the substances on which they rest by day, that they can scarcely be distinguished from them, and of course there must be a meaning in it. ”

“ The broad lay still and placid in the sunlight, and the pairing water-birds swam in and out of its reed-fringed margin, and from one to another of its dense 'ronds,' or islands of reeds.
"There is not a breath of wind," said Frank, wetting his finger, and holding it up, to feel if possible by the increased coldness on one side or another, from which quarter the wind was blowing. ”

“ At eight o'clock in the morning they bade farewell to Mary and Florrie, who had come to see them off, hoisted their sails, and away they went before a light breeze from the northward. A cheer broke from them as they found themselves fairly afloat, and the boat-house grow smaller in the distance behind them, and the waving handkerchiefs of the two girls could be seen no longer. It was a beautiful morning, and their spirits were high. Holidays, sport, and adventure lay before them, a stout boat under them. There were no three happier boys in the world. ”

“ Not a sail could be seen on the wide expanse of Breydon Water. The sky was of a hard and pitiless blue, and clearly foretold a continuance of the gale.
"Shall we venture or not?" said Frank.
"What do you feel inclined to do yourself?" asked Jimmy. [80]
"Well, I don't think there is any great risk. We will take every reef in, and the tide will be in our favour. It will be a good trial for the yacht too. If we can get to the top of Breydon against this gale we shall have every reason to be satisfied with her. I am game to try."
"So am I," said Jimmy.
"Then if you are, I am," said Dick. ”

“ Norfolk bream fishers will know that I am not exaggerating.
"I am thoroughly tired of this," said Dick at length; "this is not sport, it is butchery, especially as we do not know what to do with them now we have caught them, except to give them to some farmer for manure."
"No," said Frank; "that is why I do not care much for bream fishing, or any sport where one cannot use the things one kills; but we will give the best of these fish to old Matthew Cox and his wife, who have nothing but the parish allowance to live on. I dare say they will be glad enough of them." ”

“ Frank stooped down to wash his hands in a small pool of water by the road-side, and he cried—
"I say, do look here. Here is a living horsehair. Look at it swimming about. It ties itself into ever so many knots in a minute, and unties them again. Is it a hair-worm?"
"Yes, I have no doubt it is," said Jimmy. "Do you know that I expect that the common notion of eels being bred from horsehairs has arisen from country people seeing these long worms, and thinking they were horsehairs just come to life." ”

“ Above the cloud the sky was of a delicate pale green, in which floated cloudlets or bars of gold, which were scarcely more ethereal-looking than the birds which breasted the gale with wavering flight. Out of the sunset light there came a gallant array of vessels making for the shelter of Yarmouth. Dark-sailed wherries with their peaks lowered and their sails half mast high, and yachts with every possible reef taken in, all dashing along at a great pace, notwithstanding the opposing tide, and each with a white lump of foam at its bows. ”

“ The sandpiper remained under water some time, and when it arose, which it did with great apparent ease, the sail of the yacht hid it from the hawk's sight, and it flew away unmolested. As they sailed along on the look-out for other prey, the hawk hung in the air above them, and followed, or, as it is technically called, "waited on," them in the most beautiful manner. ”

“ Make haste and kill the butterfly and come away, or you will catch a fever," said Jimmy.
The gorgeous insect having been secured in Dick's collecting box, they went off in search of other prey. On a common just beside the wood they found abundance of the beautiful blue butterflies, which shone like flakes of summer sky, and also the small copper butterfly, which rivals the most brightly burnished copper in its sheen. These were playing about in the greatest abundance, the small coppers settling on a blue flower, or a blue butterfly on a red flower, forming most artistic contrasts of colour. ”

“ As Frank said, it was a wind in every respect suitable for the raft-like Swan.
The race excited a great amount of interest. The Swan was now well known to all the yachtsmen, and her change of name provoked curiosity and interest, and as the signal came for the yachts to take their station all eyes were upon the "Waterlog" (as we will call her during the race) . As the boys ran up her sails and sailed away to the starting-point, a decided manifestation of admiration arose as the great top-sails slowly ascended under the strenuous efforts of Dick and Jimmy. ”

“ The question which Frank put has never been satisfactorily answered.
The young ones must either perch on their mother's back, and hold on whilst they are being transported to their native element, or the old bird must seize them in her bill, like a cat does her kittens.
When the others left, the boys sailed down stream again by the light of the red sunset, and as night stole over the marshes, they anchored by Horning ferry, and so tired were they that they fell asleep the moment they laid themselves down, forgetting their fears of the night before. ”

“ A tall youth strolling languidly down a path through the woods saw two kneeling figures in red cloaks at the foot of a large willow-tree, and their movements aroused his curiosity, and while he stands looking at them let us say what manner of boy Dick Carleton is. He is very tall and thin, but he has a figure that only wants filling out to be handsome. ”

“ The birds on the broad now seemed to be aware that a hawk was about, and kept close to the shelter of the reeds, so that the broad seemed quite deserted. At last, however, a coot swam out, and the hawk made a feint at it but did not strike it, and the coot swam coolly away.
"Why the hawk is a coward," said Jimmy.
"No, she is only cautious. You see, if she were to strike it on the water it would dive, and as it is a strong bird it would carry her under. That is the difficulty we shall meet with if we hawk on the water," said Frank, "and if we go on the land someone is sure to shoot the hawks." ”

“ When the sport was over, Frank got hold of one of the warreners who had come to see it and asked him if he had ever seen any great bustards about the warren, or the adjacent fens.
"Oh, ay, sir, when I was a lad many and many a one have I seen, but now I have not seen one for more than three years. They be almost killed out of the land now. One is to be seen every two or three years, but it is always shot or trapped."
"What sort of a bird is a great bustard?" asked Dick. ”

“ Buy yourselves notebooks; put down everything in writing which seems to you to be strange and noteworthy, and don't trust to your memories. But above all, take up some one branch of study and stick to it. It is well for you to know a little of everything, but it is better for you to know a great deal of one thing. Therefore I should advise each of you to take up a line that suits him and to pay particular attention to it. Thus you, Frank, may take up Ornithology; you, Dick, should go in for Entomology; and Jimmy, why should you not take up Botany? ”

“ This was Frank Merivale's home, and vaulting over the gate which separated the paddock from the lawn, he went into the house. Coming down the broad staircase into the hall, he met his two sisters; the eldest, a girl of thirteen, was like her brother, blue eyed and yellow-haired, with a face full of fun and mischief. ”

“ Let her fly at it," cried Jimmy.
As the hawk launched into the air, however, a sandpiper flew out from among the reeds, and the hawk instantly followed it. It was a very pretty sight to see the twistings and turnings of the two birds as they dashed across the broad with equal speed. Frank took a pull at the sheet so as to catch the wind, and followed them as fast as he could. The hawk had risen above the sandpiper, and was about to swoop down upon it, when the latter, to the surprise of the boys, dashed into the water and dived.
"Only fancy a bird with no webs to its feet diving," said Frank. ”

“ Large portions of Breydon are dry at low tide, and are there called "muds," or "flats." On these muds flocks of sea-fowl congregate.
"These are capital places in the winter for wild-fowl shooting," said Frank, "we must have a day's sport here in the next hard frost. Bell will come with us, and show us some good fun, I am sure."
"My father has a big swivel duck-gun somewhere about. If that will be of any use I will look it up," said Dick.
"Of course it will be of use, old man. Just the thing we want. Haul in her sheet, Jimmy. We can sail a point nearer to the wind, if we choose. ”

“ When suddenly surprised, its flight is more like that of a carrion crow when shot at in the air. If wounded, the bittern can defend itself remarkably well, turning itself on its back, and fighting with beak and claws. It cannot run well among the reeds, so when surprised it takes refuge in flight, although it is not by any means a good flier; and as the reeds grow too closely together for it to use its wings among them, it clambers up them with its feet, until it can make play with its wings. It is essentially nocturnal in its habits, hiding close among the reeds and flags by day. ”

“ It was a night of nights for a wild-fowl shooter, and the boys resolved to stop at Yarmouth until the tide turned. As they neared the twinkling lights of the town a flock of wild geese took wing, out of shot, and made for the estuary.
"Oh, do let us follow them, they are sure to alight before they reach the bar," said Frank.
"Very well; but we must take care not to drift out to sea."
"There is no danger of that, we can always run ashore." ”

“ The day of the regatta arrived, and a strong north-wester was raising mimic waves on the broad. The boys had taken the yacht overnight to Wroxham, and in the morning they met Mary and Edith at Wroxham Bridge, and took them on board.
"Is it not dreadfully windy?" asked Edith Rose, as the wind blew her curls back from her pretty face.
"It is just what we want, Miss Rose," answered Frank.
"Wouldn't it be safer if we were not to be on board during the race? I am afraid you are going to be too venturesome. ”

“ The banks of the rivers are fringed with tall reeds, and they flow through miles of level marsh, where, as far as the eye can reach, there is nothing to be seen but the white sails of the yachts and the dark sails of the wherries, and occasional windmills which are used for pumping the water out of the drains into the rivers. ”

“ Frank and Jimmy now put their lines in, while Dick was rebaiting. In less time than you can say "Jack Robinson" they each had a fish on, both of them good ones. And now the sport was fast and furious. As fast as they put in they had a bite, the perch even following their struggling companions to the top of the water as they were being drawn out. The very large ones soon grew wary, but the smaller ones, fellows of about half to three-quarters of a pound, seemed not to have the slightest shyness, and rushed to their fate with the greatest eagerness. ”

“ A great black wall of water, with a thin crest through which the glimmer of a star could occasionally be seen, would come surging along, making their hearts sink with apprehension, and then would sometimes break and die away close by, sometimes dash them against the buoy, and sometimes with a side chop nearly fill the punt. ”

“ This news was sufficient to make the boys rush at once to the place where Jimmy stood.
On the ground under a holly-bush was the nest, with four eggs in it, of a dirty yellowish white, spotted with pale brown.
Common Sandpiper.
"Well," said Frank, "I think we have had an uncommonly good day."
"So do I," replied Jimmy, "and I feel uncommonly hungry. Don't you?"
"It seems to me that we do nothing but eat," observed Dick.
"I should like to go to bed soon. I am tired, and my ribs ache from my tumble," said Frank. ”

“ They are generally worked by two men, who live and sleep in the little cabin astern.
We left Frank Merivale very much absorbed in thought. All at once a happy thought seemed to strike him, for he started from his reverie, and began to execute a step something between a walk and a war-dance. A clump of rushes put an untimely end to this by tripping him up, and causing him to measure his length upon the ground. With philosophical composure he picked himself up, and walked off, whistling merrily, towards a fir copse which stood upon the crest of a rising, lying above. ”

“ I used to be fond of a glass myself at that time, but I have never touched a drop since."
"Did you ever see the little eels coming up the river in the spring?" asked Jimmy, to change the subject.
"Oh, you mean the elvers. Ay, and more's the pity! the people catch tons of them to feed the pigs with. If they would let them alone, they would be worth a good many pounds to some one in the autumn," answered the man.
Eels.
"If the eels breed in the sea, Frank," said Dick, "what do the eels do which cannot get to the sea,—those which live in ponds?" ”

“ Jimmy and Dick rushed out of the cabin, where they had been preparing supper, and said to Frank, who was at the helm,—
"What is the matter?"
"Why the broad is frozen over, and we can't get any further."
"Can't we break a passage through?" said Dick.
"We might, but it would be a pity to spoil so much ice for skating. Let us stay here until the morning, and then we can walk across for our skates. The yacht will be as safe here as by the boat-house." ”

“ Frank, nothing daunted, continued his upward way, and soon was able to see into the nest.
"There are four young ones," he cried.
Sparrow-hawk.
"What a pity," said Jimmy. "If they had only been eggs! Look sharp and come down, Frank, you are swinging about so much that it does not seem safe up there."
But Frank answered nothing, and remained on his perch.
"What is the matter, Frank?"
"I am thinking about something."
"A tree-top is a funny place to think. Here is the other hawk coming to pay you a visit, and it is the female. ”

“ They had not secured the hawks, and the cabin-door had swung open.
"There goes one of our hawks," cried Jimmy, as it floated out with a triumphant scream over the marsh.
"Quick! get out the lure!" said Frank.
But the lure was not needed. A twittering commenced among the reeds, and grew louder and more clamorous; and soon, with a noise like thunder, a crowd of starlings rose from their resting-places, and after a preliminary circle in the air they closed upon the hawk and began to mob her, screaming [226] the while most vociferously. ”