The Naturalist on the Thames

颠The Naturalist on the Thames

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Title: The Naturalist on the Thames
Author: C. J. Cornish
Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8682] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on July 31, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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[Illustration: FOX FLUSHING PHEASANTS. _From a drawing by Lancelot Speed._]
THE NATURALIST ON THE THAMES
BY
C.J. CORNISH, F.Z.S.

PREFACE
Having spent the greater part of my outdoor life in the Thames Valley, in the enjoyment of the varied interests of its natural history and sport, I have for many years hoped to publish the observations contained in the following chapters. They have been written at different intervals of time, but always with a view to publication in the form of a commentary on the natural history and character of the valley as a whole, from the upper waters to the mouth. For permission to use those which have been previously printed I have to thank the editors and proprietors of the Spectator, Country Life, and the Badminton Magazine.
C.J. CORNISH.
ORFORD HOUSE, CHISWICK MALL.

CONTENTS
THE THAMES AT SINODUN HILL
THE FILLING OF THE THAMES
THE SHELLS OF THE THAMES
THE ANTIQUITY OF RIVER PLANTS
INSECTS OF THE THAMES
"THE CHAVENDER OR CHUB"
THE WORLD'S FIRST BUTTERFLIES
BUTTERFLY SLEEP
CRAYFISH AND TROUT
FOUNTAINS AND SPRINGS
BIRD MIGRATION DOWN THE THAMES
WITTENHAM WOOD
SPORT AT WITTENHAM
SPORT AT WITTENHAM (_continued_)
A FEBRUARY FOX HUNT
EWELME--A HISTORICAL RELIC
EEL-TRAPS
SHEEP, PLAIN AND COLOURED
SOME RESULTS OF WILD-BIRD PROTECTION
OSIERS AND WATER-CRESS
FOG AND DEW PONDS
POISONOUS PLANTS
ANCIENT THAMES MILLS
THE BIRDS THAT STAY
ANCIENT HEDGES
THE ENGLISH MOCKING BIRD
FLOWERS OF THE GRASS FIELDS
RIVERSIDE GARDENING
COTTAGES AND CAMPING OUT
NETTING STAGS IN RICHMOND PARK
RICHMOND OLD DEER PARK
FISH IN THE LONDON RIVER
CHISWICK EYOT
CHISWICK FISHERMEN
BIRDS ON THAMES RESERVOIRS
THE CARRION CROW
LONDON'S BURIED ELEPHANTS
SWANS, BLACK AND WHITE
CANVEY ISLAND
THE LONDON THAMES AS A WATERWAY
THE THAMES AS A NATIONAL TRUST

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A FOX FLUSHING PHEASANTS
WILD DUCK
A FULL THAMES
SHELLS OF THE THAMES
A FLOWERY BANK
BURR REED AND FLOWERING RUSH
A MONSTER CHUB
BUTTERFLIES AT REST
A TROUT
OTTERS
A WATERHEN ON HER NEST
A DABCHICK
A BADGER
FOX AND CUB
EWELME POOL
A NIGHTJAR AND YOUNG ONE
A REED-BUNTING
PEELING OSIERS
BOTLEY MILL
EEL BUCKS
ORCHIS
WATER VIOLET AND WILD IRIS
A NETTED STAG
BREAM AND ROACH
A GRAMPUS AT CHISWICK
SMELTS
THE LOBSTER SMACK INN, CANVEY ISLAND
THE STEPPING-STONES AT BENFLEET
HAULING THE NETS FOR WHITEBAIT
FISHING BOATS AT LEIGH

THE NATURALIST ON THE THAMES

THE THAMES AT SINODUN HILL
Fresh water is almost the oldest thing on earth. While the rocks have been melted, the sea growing salter, and the birds and beasts perfecting themselves or degenerating, the fresh water has been always the same, without change or shadow of turning. So we find in it creatures which are inconceivably old, still living, which, if they did not belong to other worlds than ours, date from a time when the world was other than it is now; and the fresh-water plants, equally prehistoric, on which these creatures feed. Protected by this constant element the geographical range of these animals and plants is as remarkable as their high antiquity. There are in lake Tanganyika or the rivers of Japan exactly the same kinds of shells as in the Thames, and the sedges and reeds of the Isis are found from Cricklade to Kamschatka and beyond Bering Sea to the upper waters of the Mackenzie and the Mississippi. The Thames, our longest fresh-water river, and its containing valley form the largest natural feature in this country. They are an organic whole, in which the river and its tributaries support a vast and separate life of animals and plants, and modify that of the hills and valleys by their course. Civil law has recognised the Thames system as a separate area, and given to it a special government, that of the Conservators, whose control now extends from the Nore to the remotest springs in the hamlets in its watershed; and natural law did so long before, when the valley became one of the migration routes of certain southward-flying birds. Its course is of such remote antiquity that there