THIS bird is remarkably light in proportion to its bulk; seldom weighing more than three pounds and a half, although it is three feet three inches in length, and expands a breadth of wing not less than five feet. It is always lean, and its skin is said to be scarcely thicker than the membrane which is used by gold beaters. Its bill is five inches long, having serratures at the point, which stand backward, and act like the barbs of a fishhook after the prey is struck; and its claws are long, sharp, and formidable: but though it appears thus completely armed for war, it is indolent and cowardly, and even flies at the approach of a sparrow-hawk. In fresh water, however, it is a perfect tyrant, and there is scarcely a fish, however large, that it will not strike at and wound, though unable to carry it away: but it subsists chiefly on the smaller fry, of which it devours immense quantities. Willoughby saw a Heron that had seventeen carp in its stomach; and a single bird will destroy nine thousand in the course of a year.

These birds live chiefly among pools and marshes, and commit their depredations in solitude and silence; yet in making their nests they are seen, like rooks, building in company with flocks of their own kind. Their nests are made of sticks, and lined with wool; and the female lays four large eggs of a pale green colour. When the young are excluded, as they are numerous, voracious, and importunate, the parents are for ever on the wing, to satisfy their cravings; and the quantity of fish they take upon this occasion is truly surprising.

This bird, though he usually takes his prey by wading as far as he can into the water, frequently also catches it while on the wing: but this is only in shallow waters, where he is able to dart with more certainty than in the deeps; for in this case, though the fish does, at the first sight of its enemy, descend, yet the Heron, with his long bill and legs, instantly pins it to the bottom, and thus seizes it securely.

When falconry was in fashion, the chase of the Heron was a favourite amusement. Somervile has described with great spirit the contest between the hawks and the heron, and the death of the latter.

Now like a wearied stag,

That stands at bay, the hern provokes their rage;
Close by his languid wing, in downy plumes
Covers his fatal beak, and cautious hides
The well dissembled fraud. The falcon darts
Like lightning from above, and in her breast
Receives the latent death; down plum she falls
Bounding from earth, and with her trickling gore
Defiles her gaudy plumage. See, alas!
The falconer in despair, his favourite bird
Dead at his feet; as of his dearest friend
He weeps her fate; he meditates revenge,

He storms, he foams, he gives a loose to rage:
Nor wants he long the means; the hern fatigued,
Borne down by numbers, yields, and prone on earth
He drops: his cruel foes wheeling around
Insult at will.

THE Bittern is less in size than the heron, and has a weaker bill, not more than four inches in width. The mouth, however, opens with such an expansion that the eyes appear to be fixed in the bill. The feathers form a sort of pendent crest on the hind part of the head, the crown of which is black. The plumage of the bird is of a pale dull yellow, variously marked with black; and some parts about the wings are of a bright rust colour barred with black. On the breast the feathers are long and loose, and the tail is very short. The legs are of a palish green hue; the claws are long and slender; and the middle one is serrated, in order to retain a better hold of the prey.

The Bittern is a native of various parts of Europe, and in England inhabits the fen countries. In autumn it changes its place of abode, and always commences

its journey at sunset. It is naturally a retired inoffensive bird, leading a solitary life among the reeds and rushes of extensive marshes, where it usually sits with its head erect, so as to see over them, without being seen by the sportsman. In the summer it feeds on fish and frogs; and in autumn it resorts to the woods, in search of mice. The males, during the months of February and March, make a kind of deep lowing noise in the mornings and evenings, which is scarcely less terrific than the bellowing of a bull. This is supposed to be the call to the female, and was formerly imagined to be produced by the bird while its beak was plunged into the mud. It is now believed to be caused by a loose membrane, situated at the entrance of the throat, and which is capable of being widely expanded. The Bittern flies chiefly in the dusk of the evening, and rises by a spiral ascent till it is out of sight, uttering at the same time a strange cry, quite different from its booming.

In April, the female composes a simple nest of sedges, the leaves of water plants, and dry rushes; and generally lays four or five eggs, of an ash-green colour, which she hatches in twenty-five days. The Bitterns defend their young with such courage, that even the hawk will seldom venture to attack the nest.

When wounded by the sportsman, this bird often makes a severe resistance. It does not retire; but waits the onset, and gives such vigorous pushes with its bill, as to wound the leg through the boot. Sometimes it turns on its back, like the rapacious birds, and fights with both its bill and claws. When surprised by a dog, it is said always to throw itself into this posture, and defend itself so vigorously, as to compel its assailant to retire. The eyes of its antagonist are the object at which it chiefly strikes. It does not fly from birds of prey, but erects its sharp beak, and receives the shock on the point, by which

it compels its enemy to retreat, and sometimes with a fatal wound. Its flesh has much the flavour of a hare, and is held in esteem at modern tables, as it was in those of ancient times.

THE FLAMINGO.

FLAMINGOES combine the characteristics of the Linnæan orders of Swimmers and Waders. Their legs and necks are long; their bills are thick, large, and bending in the middle; the high part of the upper mandible is keel-shaped, and its edges are sharply indented, while the lower mandible is compressed, and its edges are transversely furrowed. The nostrils are pervious, and covered above with a thick plate; and the tongue, the upper part of which is aculeated, and the middle muscular, is cartilaginous, and pointed at the end. The feet are webbed, and the back toes are very small.

The RED FLAMINGO has a body which is about the size of that of a goose, but so long are its legs and neck that, when it stands erect, it exceeds six feet in height. Its colour is a beautiful scarlet. They are generally found in great flocks, and, when seen at a distance, ranged along the sides of rivers, seeking for food, they appear like a regiment of soldiers. Water insects and small fish are the articles on which they subsist. Their mode of catching these is to plunge the bill and part of the head into the water, trampling up the mud at the same time to raise up their prey. While they are thus employed, one of their number is placed as a sentinel, to give notice of danger, which he does by giving a loud scream, something like the sound of a trumpet. The whole flock then instantly take flight, uttering shrill cries.

The female builds her nest in extensive marshes, where there is no danger of surprise; and the fabric