hinder part of his head, which in chivalrous times was of great value, and held as a peculiar mark of distinction when worn above the plume of ostrich feathers. The back is clothed with down instead of feathers.

Virgil places the Heron among the birds that are affected by and foretell the approaching storm:

"When watchful Herons leave their watery stand,
And mounting upwards with erected flight,
Gain on the skies, and soar above the sight."

DRYDEN.

The Heron, though living chiefly in the vicinity of marshes and lakes, forms its nest on the tops of the loftiest trees, or on the pointed cliffs of the sea-shore. It resembles the rook in its habits: a great number of Herons living together in what is called a Heronry, as rooks do in a rookery. The female lays four large eggs, of a pale green colour; and the natural term of this bird's life is said to exceed sixty years.

In England, Herons were formerly ranked among the royal game, and protected as such by the laws; and when falconry was in fashion, the pursuit of the Heron was a favourite amusement.

"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 plumb 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."

SOMERVILLE.

THE BITTERN (Botaurus Stellaris)

Is not quite so large as the common heron; its head is small, narrow, and compressed at the sides. The crown is black, the throat and sides of the neck red, with narrow black lines, and the back of a pale red, mixed with yellow. The claws are long and slender, the inside of the middle one being serrated, the better to enable it to hold its prey. The bill is about four inches in length. The most remarkable character in this bird is the hollow and yet loud rumbling of his voice; his bellowing is heard at the distance of a mile, at the time of sunset, and it is hardly possible to conceive at first how such a body of sound, resembling the lowing of an ox, can be produced by a bird comparatively so small. The booming

noise was formerly believed to be made while the bird plunged its bill into the mud; hence Thomson,

"So that scarce

The Bittern knows his time, with bill ingulf'd

To shake the sounding marsh."

And Southey also describes the peculiar noise of this bird in his poem of Thalaba:

"And when at evening, o'er the swampy plain,
The Bittern's boom came far,

Distinct in darkness seen

Above the low horizon's lingering light,
Rose the near ruins of old Babylon."

Sometimes in the evening the Bittern soars on a sudden in a straight, or, at other times, in a spiral line, so high in the air, that it ceases to be perceptible to the eye. When attacked by the buzzard, or other birds of prey, it defends itself with great courage, and generally beats off such assailants; neither does it betray any symptoms of fear when wounded by the sportsman, but eyes him with a keen undaunted look; and, when driven to extremity, will attack him with the utmost vigour, wounding his legs, or aiming at his eyes with its sharp and piercing bill. It was formerly held in much estimation at the tables of the great, and is again recovering its credit as a fashionable dish. The flesh is considered delicious. In autumn it changes its abode, always commencing its journey at sunset. Its precautions for concealment and security seem directed with great care and circumspection. It usually sits in the reeds with its head erect; and thus, from its great length of neck, sees over their tops, without being itself perceived by the sportsman. The principal food of these birds, during summer, consists of fish and frogs; but in autumn they resort to the woods in pursuit of mice, which they seize with great dexterity, and always swallow whole. About this season they usually become very fat.

THE SPOONBILL (Platalea leucorodia)

Is a large bird; the colour of the whole body is white, and the resemblance of the bill to a spoon has caused the denomination of the bird. In some species the plumage inclines from white to pink colour. On the hind part of the head is a beautiful white crest, reclining backward. The legs and thighs are black. The wisdom of Providence is most conspicuous in the conformation of the bill, which is entirely adapted to the habits and manner of feeding of these birds; the frog and the lizard, which constitute the principal food of the Spoonbill, often escape the thin and narrow beak of the heron and other birds, but the mandibles of this bird are so large at the end, that the prey cannot slip aside. Like rooks and herons, Spoonbills build their nests on the tops of high trees, and lay three or four eggs, the size of those of a hen, which are white, sprinkled with pale red. These birds are very noisy during the breeding season. The Spoonbill migrates northward in the summer, and returns to southern climes on the approach of winter; and is found in all the intermediate low countries between the Faroe Isles and the Cape of Good Hope.

The American or Roseate Spoonbill is very beautiful. Its colour is white, tinged with rose, which deepens in the wings and tail into the richest carmine. The feet are half-webbed, and the bird is generally found on the sea-coast, where it wades into the sea in quest of the small shell-fish of different kinds, on which it feeds.

THE CURLEW. (Numenius arquata.)
"Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore,
His dun-gray plumage floating to the gale,
The Curlew blends his melancholy wail
With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour."
MISS WILLIAMS.

"Wild as the scream of the Curlew,

From rock to rock the signal flew." SIR WALTER SCOTT. THE Curlew is a large bird, weighing about twenty-four ounces; and is found on the sea-shore on all sides of England. The middle parts of the feathers of the head, neck, and back are black, the borders or outsides ashcoloured, with a mixture of red; and the lower part of the body white. The beak has a regular curve downward, and is soft at the point. This bird's flesh may challenge for flavour and delicacy that of any other water-fowl, and the people of Suffolk say proverbially:

"A Curlew, be she white, be she black,

She carries twelve pence on her back : "