The Swan and Her Crew

by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  A queer Umbrella.--Visit to Scoulton Gullery.--Driving Tandem.-- Running away.--Black-headed Gulls.--Collecting the Eggs.--Carp.-- Wood Argus Butterfly.--Scarlet Pimpernel.--Grasshopper Warbler.-- Chiff-Chaff.--Gall-Fly.--Robins' Pincushions.

  The boys slept at the Royal Hotel that night, and to their surprisefound Sir Richard's groom there. He had brought the brougham to town forrepairs, and had orders to wait until it was finished, which would notbe until the next day but one. In the meantime his two ponies were inthe stables with nothing to do. Here was a good opportunity for a longdrive. Frank at once suggested that they should drive to Scoulton andsee the breeding-place of the black-headed gulls. This was agreed towithout hesitation. Then Frank said that as he had a pair of horses theymight as well drive tandem, and he undertook to drive. Mason, the groom,objected to this, because he was afraid that Master Frank could notdrive well enough; but Frank was positive that he could, although he hadnever driven tandem before. He said he knew the theory, and he wascertain the practice was easy. At last it was agreed that the horsesshould be harnessed tandem, and that if Frank could not manage them hewas to give the reins up to Mason.

  "Why do the black-headed gulls breed at Hingham, which is an inlandplace? I always thought they bred by the sea," said Dick.

  "The black-headed gulls don't. Every year as the breeding seasonapproaches, they leave the sea and go to certain lakes or rivers, wherefrom 'time immemorial' they have bred. Scoulton Mere near Hingham is oneof these places, and they breed there in countless numbers, going therein March and leaving in July or August. It is a sight worth seeing, Ican assure you. There are not many places in England now where theybreed in such numbers as they do at Scoulton," answered Frank.

  "What a curious instinct it is which leads them there. And how funnythat for half a year they should live on salt food by the sea, and thenfor the other half on fresh-water food," said Dick.

  Frank and Jimmy were standing in the archway of the Royal Hotel the nextmorning wondering where Dick was. It was raining heavily, and they hadhad to put off starting to Hingham. Presently Dick was seen running upthe Walk with his coat collar turned up, evidently pretty well drenched.Under his arm however he had a very nice-looking umbrella.

  "Oh, Dick," said Frank as he joined them, "whatever have you been buyingan umbrella for, and why, having bought one, do you not put it up whenit rains?"

  "I believe every person I passed all the way from the top of St. Giles'sStreet would have liked to ask me that question. They plainly thoughtthat I was a fool," Dick answered rather crossly.

  "Well, no wonder. Why didn't you put it up?"

  "It is not an umbrella at all, but a butterfly-net;" and he unfolded thesupposed umbrella and opened it out into a good-sized butterfly-net.

  "I did not much like to be seen carrying a great butterfly-net throughthe town, so I thought this a good dodge to save appearances, and lo andbehold it serves me this trick the first time I carry it."

  "Well, it could not help the rain, Dick," said Frank laughing.

  These umbrella-nets are capital things, although they are useless in ashower. The reader may easily make one for himself in this way: Get anold umbrella-stick and place the catch which holds the umbrella open,lower down, so as to increase the diameter of your net; then get twoslips of strong crinoline steel, make the ends red hot, and bend themwith a pliers into little loops. Then fasten one end of each to the topof the stick with a piece of wire, and the other ends to the slidingferrule. When this ferrule is pushed up to the catch the steels form acircle, to which the net can be attached. Slip the ferrule back, and thenet can be rolled up round the stick just like an ordinary umbrella, anda case put over it. A very handy and useful net is thus formed, and onewhich is very portable. If you do not care to make it, it may be boughtfrom a dealer for a small sum, but I should advise every boy to makehimself all the things he can. He will thus not only save his money tobuy those things which he cannot make, but he will (which is far moreimportant) learn how to turn his hand to useful purposes, and encouragehabits of self-reliance which will be very useful to him in after life.In addition to this, one gets far more pleasure from using a thing onehas made oneself, than one which has been bought.

  About twelve o'clock the rain cleared away and they decided to start. Sothe horses were harnessed in a dog-cart belonging to the inn, which alsosupplied them with the tandem harness, and the turn-out, which lookedvery creditable, was brought to the front of the inn, and the boys tooktheir seats. Frank and Dick sat in front, and Jimmy and the groombehind. Frank felt nervous as he took hold of the reins, but pretendedto feel quite at his ease. To his astonishment their steeds started offvery quietly; and as the streets were very clear of traffic, they gotout of the town without any accident. As soon, however, as they gotinto the open roads the leader evinced a strong desire to look abouthim, and presently his movements grew so erratic that Dick said he wassure he would turn round and look at them before long. Frank resentedthis imputation on his skill in driving by giving the leader a cut withthe whip, whereupon he attempted to bolt, and it was as much as Frankcould do to hold him in. Then sometimes he would hang back, so that thetraces were loose, and the wheeler did all the pulling; and then hewould start forward and nearly break the traces. After this sort ofthing had gone on for some two or three miles, the wheeler, which hadbeen going very steadily, began to imitate the bad example of hisleader; and Frank and his companions began to wish they had lettandem-driving alone.

  They came to a turnpike gate and, on Frank attempting to pull in thehorses in order to pay the toll, he found that they were beyond hiscontrol, and after cannoning rather severely against the gate-post, theyfairly bolted, and tore away at a great pace along the road, which wasfortunately pretty straight and free from vehicles.

  "Sit still," said Frank, "don't jump out, or you will come to grief. Aslong as there is nothing in the way they shall go as fast as they like.They will get tired of it sooner than I shall."

  Away they went like the wind, the dog-cart bounding over the ruts andsmall stones in the roadway so that the boys had to hold on as tightlyas they could. A large waggon now appeared in sight, and they rapidlycame up with it. Frank tried to turn his horses a little, but they hadthe bits in their teeth and would not swerve out of their course. Thewaggoner, seeing the state of affairs, promptly drew his horses andwaggon close up to the side of the road in time for the runaways to passthem safely, but the wheels were within an inch of coming intocollision. On they went until they came to a rise in the road, and herethe horses, seeing that a long hill stretched before them, began to drawin.

  "Now," said Frank, "you have come at this pace so far for your ownsatisfaction, you shall go to the top of the hill at the same pace formine." And he lashed them up and made them gallop right to the top ofthe hill, which was half a mile long, and then they were glad enough tobe pulled up.

  "You will have no more trouble with them now, sir," said Mason, and hewas right. The horses went as steadily as possible the rest of the way,and Frank's opinion of himself as a driver, which had been going down,again rose. Their way led through a fine and well-wooded country; andafter the rain, the trees, the long stretches of corn-fields, and themeadows, shone out with their brightest emerald; and in the shady parts,where the sun had not dried up the rain-drops, it seemed as if a sheenysilk mantle had been cast over the fields. About two o'clock theyreached Scoulton Mere, which lay by the road side, separated from it bya belt of trees. A keeper was entering the gate into the wood as theydrove up, and Frank at once called out to him, and asked if they mightgo and see the gulls' nests.

  "Oh yes, sir, I am going to collect the eggs now, and you can come withme. Bring your horses in here. There is a shed where we can put themup."

  "Hurrah, we are in luck!" said Frank to his companions.

  They drove into the woodland glade over the softest moss and betweengreat masses of rhododendrons which were still in flower.

 
; Leaving the horses in charge of Mason, they accompanied the keeper tothe pool. It was about eighty acres in extent with a large island in thecentre. As they reached the banks the air became filled with athundering noise of wings, and as white as a snowstorm with the numbersof gulls which rose in the air at their approach.

  "Oh, there are thousands and thousands of them!" said Dick in amazement.

  "And if you look, there are as many on the water as in the air,"answered the keeper.

  Floating with the peculiar lightness which distinguishes the gull tribe,the birds seemed to occupy almost every yard of water.

  "You spoke of collecting the eggs," said Dick to the keeper; "what doyou do with them?"

  "Oh, we sell them for eating. They are as good as plovers' eggs. I canget one shilling and sixpence or two shillings a score here for them,and the men who buy them of me get a good profit in Norwich market."

  "How many eggs do you get?"

  "Oh, that depends upon whether it is a good year or a bad one. In a goodyear we take 12,000 eggs or more. This year we have had one takealready of 2,500 in one day, and I expect to get about 1,500 to-day. Yousee my men are collecting already. We only take the first laying of eachbird if we can help it, but nests are so close together that it is hardto remember which we have taken and which we have not. If you would liketo come on the Hearth, as we call the island in the middle, you can doso, but you must put these mud boards on your feet, for it is very softand dangerous walking."

  COMMON GULL.]

  They crossed to the island in a heavy tub of a boat, and were surprisedto see the number of eggs and nests. The nests were not more than oneyard apart, built on the ground like water-hens', but not so cup-shaped.The number of eggs seemed to be about three in each nest, and theircolour was generally olive brown, blotched and spotted with darkerbrown, but there was a very great variety in their colour. Some werevery light, some were very dark, and others were all blue like a heron'segg. The business of collecting the eggs went on very quietly andexpeditiously, but the boys were almost made dizzy with the constantswooping of the gulls about their heads, and almost deafened by theircries. One part of the marshy island was so soft that no one could walkupon it, and the gulls which bred there never had their nests disturbedexcept by the rats and weasels, which naturally abound in such places.

  YOUNG GULLS COVERED WITH DOWN.]

  The black-headed gull derives its name from the black patch on its head,which, however only appears during the breeding season.

  "When do the gulls arrive?" the boys asked.

  "Well, sir, a lot of them come in March and stay for a day or two, as ifto see that everything is right; and then they go away, and in a fewdays afterwards the whole of them come and begin to lay directly. Therewas some very stormy weather in March this year and they were late incoming, or most of the eggs would have been hatched by now."

  "And when do they leave?"

  "In July and August they begin to go away, and leave in the night; andby the end of August very few are left."

  "One would think that this small lake would scarcely afford sufficientfood for them," said Jimmy.

  "Oh they scour the country around, sir. They follow the plough andspread over the fields like rooks. They catch moths and other insects.They eat mice, and if a young bird (not their own) came in the way theywould make a meal of it."

  They bought a score of the eggs for the purpose of exchange, and thenrowed round the pool watching the wonderful scene. There were plenty ofother birds beside gulls there. Coots, water-hens, water-rails, grebesand dabchicks were in plenty.

  CARP.]

  "I should think that there cannot be many fish here where the gullswould eat up all the spawn," said Frank; but as he spoke Dick pointedout the backs of a couple of immense carp which were basking on the topof the water, and a little further on they saw the body of a huge eel,and they were told by the keeper that there were any number of eelsthere.

  They were invited by the keeper to take tea at his cottage, and they hadsome of the gulls' eggs boiled, and very good they were. After tea theywent for a birds'-nesting ramble through the wood.

  "Oh, look here!" said Jimmy; "when we came this afternoon all this placewas covered with the scarlet pimpernel, and now there is not one to beseen. They have all closed up."

  "Yes," answered the keeper, "they always do that about four o'clock, andall day long when the day is dull. We call them wink-a-peep, andsometimes shepherd's weather-glass."

  "How different to these dingy meadow brown butterflies which arefluttering all about us. I have seen them fly on the most damp andcheerless of days, when not another butterfly could be seen. I likethem, although they are so dingy and ugly, because they are so hardy andhomely."

  "What butterfly is that?" said Jimmy, pointing to one that flitted past.Dick's net was ready in a moment, and off he went in chase. Bringingback his prize, they examined it and pronounced it to be the speckledwood butterfly or wood argus. It is a common insect nearly everywhere.It has wings of a deep-brown spotted with buff, and on the wings arepure white eyes with glossy black circles around them. It may be seen inevery woodland glade, and is not at all shy.

  "Hush!" said Frank; "is that a shrew-mouse or a grasshopper which ismaking that chirruping noise?"

  "It is neither, sir," replied the keeper; "it is a bird, and there it iscreeping about the bottom of that hedge like a mouse."

  "Oh, I know what it is, it is a grasshopper warbler. Let us look for itsnest."

  They searched for quite a quarter of an hour before they found it. Itwas placed on the ground in the middle of a tuft of grass and at thefoot of a bush. It was cup-shaped, made of grass and moss, and containedsix eggs which were pinkish-white in colour, spotted all over withreddish-brown.

  The note of this little bird seems to be of a ventriloquial characterlike that of the landrail or corncrake. I have searched many a time inthe exact spot where the sound appeared to come from, and then perhapsdiscovered that the bird was on the other side of the lane.

  Jimmy next found a nest on the ground. It was arched over like a wren's,and was very beautifully constructed out of moss, hair, and feathers. Itcontained five round white eggs spotted with red. In order to identifyit more positively as that of the chiff-chaff, which they suspected itwas, they watched for some time, and saw the bird, a little pale-brownthing, creep up to it and enter it.

  I would particularly impress on my boy readers the necessity ofthoroughly identifying the nest and eggs which they find. It is oftenimpossible to tell accurately without seeing the old bird, and as thevalue of a collection depends upon the accuracy of its named specimens,no trouble should be spared in ensuring thorough identification. Thisremark applies to collections of every kind. "What is worth doing at allis worth doing well."

  CHIFF-CHAFF.]

  The keeper said, pointing to some red, hairy masses on a bramble bush,"We call these robins' pincushions; can you tell me what causes them?"

  "Oh yes," said Dick, "they are galls caused by a little grub whichafterwards turns into a fly."

  "They are very pretty things to be caused by a dirty little grub," saidJimmy; "and pray what causes this cuckoo-spit?" pointing to one of thelittle lumps of water foam which are so common on plants and grasses inthe summer.

  Dick said they were caused by the larvae of a fly like the galls, but asthey were puzzled to know how it produced this casing of spit, when theygot back to Norwich they went into the library and found, in a number of_Science Gossip_, the following information about it:--

  "The larvae, as soon as it is hatched commences operations on some juicystem or leaf, no matter what, so it be sappy enough; thrusts in its longproboscis; pumps up the sap; blows it off in small bubbles through apipe in its tail, and so speedily constructs for itself a cool, moist,translucent home. By and by the sap dries up, and the insect changes itsform and becomes winged."

  OAK-GALL-FLY.]

  It was now getting dusk, and the gulls were flying low over the meadows,h
awking about like swallows. The boys went to see what they werecatching, and saw that they were feeding on the ghost-moths which werehovering over the grass-tops with that vibrating and ghost-like flightwhich is so peculiar to them. Every country boy must know theghost-moths which, large and small, white and yellow, hover over thehay-fields in the month of June. Their size alone makes themconspicuous, and they have a weird look as they flit about in the warm,still twilight.

  Dick got several for his collection, and then it was time to bereturning; and after making due acknowledgment to the friendly keeperthey drove back through the quiet night, while nightingales sang aroundthem, and the great red moon rose over the eastern woods, and quenchedthe pale light of the stars. The horses went well together, and they hadno trouble with them; and when they got back to the hotel they went tobed, declaring they had spent a very jolly day.