"Noise!" said his sister reproachfully.
"Yes, when it is dinned into one's ears so much, any singing becomes noisy."
Frank thought his friend was joking, but about ten o'clock they were strolling about the grounds in the bright moonlight, and then they heard nightingales singing all round them. The boys thought they had never heard such sweet sounds. First the song would commence with an intensely sweet, low, single note or pipe. Then would follow a strong clear flood of melody which was entrancing in its richness. Then the bird would cease, and in a few seconds another bird would answer from a little distance. Then the first one would reply, and a third would take up the strain from a different quarter. The moonlight silence of the night, the ravishing strains of bird music which made the grove vocal, and the heavy fragrance of the flowers which floated on the dewy air, made the evening most perfect and beautiful.
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 surprise found Sir Richard's groom there. He had brought the brougham to town for repairs, and had orders to wait until it was finished, which would not be until the next day but one. In the meantime his two ponies were in the stables with nothing to do. Here was a good opportunity for a long drive. Frank at once suggested that they should drive to Scoulton and see the breeding-place of the black-headed gulls. This was agreed to without hesitation. Then Frank said that as he had a pair of horses they might as well drive tandem, and he undertook to drive. Mason, the groom, objected to this, because he was afraid that Master Frank could not drive well enough; but Frank was positive that he could, although he had never driven tandem before. He said he knew the theory, and he was certain the practice was easy. At last it was agreed that the horses should be harnessed tandem, and that if Frank could not manage them he was to give the reins up to Mason.
"Why do the black-headed gulls breed at Hingham, which is an inland place? I always thought they bred by the sea," said Dick.
"The black-headed gulls don't. Every year as the breeding season approaches, they leave the sea and go to certain lakes or rivers, where from 'time immemorial' they have bred. Scoulton Mere near Hingham is one of these places, and they breed there in countless numbers, going there in March and leaving in July or August. It is a sight worth seeing, I can assure you. There are not many places in England now where they breed in such numbers as they do at Scoulton," answered Frank.
"What a curious instinct it is which leads them there. And how funny that for half a year they should live on salt food by the sea, and then for the other half on fresh-water food," said Dick.