Its beauty marred. Then suddenly I saw
The god, across the stream, amid the sedge
And misty wreaths along the river's edge,
And whether he spoke, or whether a subtle sense
"Twixt him and me made an intelligence

I know not, but there came from him to me-
"If I am dead, thy God is near to thee;
There needs no other mediator than

The one He gave,—at once a God and Man;
Look thou within thyself, perchance the link
That's missing has been broke by thee. Yet think,
If so thou wilt, I am not dead, but merged

In one I too must love."

Then surged

Out from the West a sudden wind which tossed

The branches in the wood, and so was lost

At once the silence and the song. I lay

As one awaked, and watched the misty cloud
Enclose the starlit meadow in its shroud,

Then took the oars, and silent rowed away.

༥.

1

SCOULTON GULLERY

A SOMEWHAT similar instinct to that which compels the salmon to leave the salt water of the sea, and ascend the rivers and streams, to deposit its spawn, would appear to lead the black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) from the sea-shore and cliffs, which one would naturally suppose to be its proper habitat, to the inland lakes and meres, where it breeds. The change is not less great in the bird than it is in the fish-from sea insects, shell-fish, and odds and ends of salted articles of food, to in the case of the salmon fresh-water insects and worms, and in the case of the gull to land insects, slugs, worms, and other the dainty dishes of inland birds. But the salmon affect many of our fresh-water rivers; the gulls have only a few favourite breedingplaces, where, however, they breed in enormous num

bers. Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk, is perhaps the chief of these, and is a sight no one who journeys in its neighbourhood should miss. It is situate near Hingham, and is twenty-eight miles from the sea. In that county of lakes, it may be interesting to notice the difference in the designations of its numerous sheets of water. The majority are called "Broads," a term peculiar to Norfolk. The others of any size are called "Meres." The latter have no communication with any rivers, but are hollows in the surface, caused, so geologists tell us, by erosion, and supplied by springs. The Broads are always in intimate connection with the slow running rivers of that county-the Yare, the Bure, and the Waveney. At one time the whole of the Broad district must have been under water, as is evidenced by its flat, marshy character. As the years rolled on, the waters subsided, the hollows silted up, as they are doing year by year now, with reeds and other aquatic vegetation, which, decaying, helped to fill up the lakes, until marsh took the place of water, and after drainage, hard, firm land the place of marsh. The remaining waters, shallow and broad, took the name of “Broads."

The black or brown patch on the head, from which the name of the gull is derived, appears only during the breeding season, and is darkest when first as

sumed. It has been observed that the change of colour is not caused by a moulting of the feathers, but that the pigment slowly spreads over them and afterwards disappears without any change of plumage. The note of this gull is a harsh cackle, and has led to its being called by some writers the "laughing-gull." The true laughing gull, however, is a distinct species.

There are a few other noted breeding-places of this gull in England, notably one at Twigmoor, where the spot is such as to suit their apparent requirements, namely, shallow water, and spongy, almost inaccessible marshes; but Scoulton Mere is the most numerous colony known. It was, therefore, with some degree of pleasure that I found business required my presence within two miles of the mere. It was a beautiful July day, and the drive through the well-farmed country to Hingham, and thence to Scoulton, was extremely pleasant. The corn-fields gave promise of a splendid harvest, and their cool green waves were agreeably diversified with the scarlet poppies, or "redweed" of the farmer. From some cause or other, there appeared to be an unusual abundance of these, and some fields showed more scarlet than green; others were apparently free from the flowers save in the furrows; and as we sped by, behind a fast horse, the alternate green of the corn and the scarlet flash of the radiating fur

rows, with the deep, dark green of the woods behind, and intensest summer blue above, afforded a rare con-· trast of colour to the artistic eye.

The mere, we found, lay in a sheltered spot, bordered, however, by the road on its most open side. Leaving the highway, we entered a cool avenue of magnificent rhododendron bushes, quite ten feet in height, and presently came to the boat-house. Embarking in a wide tub of a boat, and impelled by a pair of the stoutest sculls one could well imagine—and none too stout to make any way among the thick weeds-we pushed out into the open water. The mere, with its islands, contains some eighty acres. The large flat marsh in the

middle, locally called the "haft," contains a large proportion of the eighty acres. The greater part of it is covered with low bushes, and long reeds, flags, and grass, and is very spongy and wet. On this the gulls breed. Their nests are built on the ground, and are not a yard apart. They are of somewhat similar character to those of the coots and waterhens; made of aquatic vegetation, and but very slightly cup-shaped. Like those of the last-named birds too, they are, in places where the water is likely to rise and flood them, raised a foot, or even more, above the surface, but they invariably have their foundation upon it. Only once has a nest been found in one of the low

Hearth, and by Bewick the