uld see
starlings in great flocks following the plough, and gulls sometimes
literally covered acres of newly ploughed ground.

One day as we approached a hamlet near Netheravon, I fancied I was
witnessing an optical illusion: the whole surface of a field was
covered with black and white, vibrating as though waves were passing
over it. When we came nearer we saw that the field was covered so
thick with gulls that the ground was hidden. The gull was a small
white variety about the size of a pigeon, with a black ruff around
its neck. The wave-like motion was made by the birds digging away in
the newly turned earth for worms and larvae; judging by the way they
worked, they must have cleaned up millions of them.

Then there were robins, thrushes, magpies, and scores of other birds
which were unfamiliar to us, while later on the larks spiralled with
delirious songs into the sky. The pheasants were so tame they would
scarcely get out of the way of a passing car.

Salisbury Plain had evidently been the site of many an armed camp and
had probably seen many a battle since the time of the Romans. The
archaeologists in charge of the unearthing of "Old Sarum," perhaps the
most ancient remains of a city in Great Britain, have, during the last
ten years, found many wonderful things. Old Sarum is situated about
two miles from the present city of Salisbury on the plain. It was
built on the top of an enormous circular mound of earth several
hundred yards in diameter, and was supposed to have been surrounded by
the usual fosse and ditch. Roman, Saxon and Norman remains have been,
and are still being, found, as the stonework of walls and buildings is
being uncovered. It is supposed that much of the original stone was
used in the 12th century to build the present cathedral of Salisbury.

One day at the opposite side of the plain toward Tinhead, Colonel (now
General) Panet, of the horse artillery, took me out to see the
enormous white horse cut in the chalk in the face of the hill
ascending to Salisbury Plain. The figure, representing King Alfred's
famous white charger is supposed to have been carved in King Alfred's
time, to celebrate a famous victory in the neighborhood. The natives
have kept the figure ever since carved white on the hillside by the
simple process of digging away the surface earth and sod, and leaving
the underlying chalk exposed.

Stonehenge, situated in the middle of the plain, is one of the
weirdest and most inter