April 1, 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE GOSSIP. 



S7 



few brief remarks on the general appearance and 

 situation of the heronry last named. 



The date of our visit was the oth of April, and 

 the birds were then sitting on their eggs. The 

 Heron is one of the few waders which resort to a 

 tree for the purpose of nidification, and a stranger 

 sight than a number of these great birds perched at 

 the top of a lofty elm, can scarcely be imagined. 

 Twenty years ago, the Herons at Wanstead Park 

 tenanted some trees at a different spot to that which 

 they now frequent. At present they occupy some 

 tall elms upon an island in the largest piece of water 

 in the park. The keeper informed us that there 

 were about thirty pairs. We proceeded to the boat- 

 house, and after bailing out the boat which was 

 nearly full of water, steered for the Herons' island. 

 A good glass enabled us to see the birds very clearly, 

 and most of them were in splendid plumage. The 

 nests were placed at the very tops of the trees, and 

 many of them were occupied by a sitting bird. 



Here and there a Heron stood erect upon a 

 bough, with head and neck drawn in, looking for 

 all the world like a cold sentinel, with his bayonet 

 between his teeth, and his hands in his trousers' 

 pockets. As we approached the island several loud 

 croaks were heard, and the sentinels took wing, 

 the sitting birds being the last to leave. Taking it 

 for granted that the bird which sat the longest was 

 the most likely to have eggs, we selected a tree from 

 which a Heron flew as we reached it. 



It was a wych-elm about forty feet high, and the 

 nest was placed amongst the topmost branches. 

 After a fatiguing climb, owing to the absence of 

 boughs for a considerable distance, we reached the 

 top, and paused to rest before looking into the nest. 

 And now was the anxious moment. Were our 

 exertions in vain ? Was the nest empty, or were 

 we to be rewarded with the sight of eggs ? The 

 nest was large enough to sit in, composed ex- 

 ternally of large twigs, chiefly elm and willow, and 

 lined with smaller twigs, fibre and dry grass. It 

 overhung our head to some extent, so that we were 

 obliged to pull away a portion of the side before 

 we could see into it, when, to our delight, four 

 beautiful eggs were displayed, their bright bluish- 

 green colour contrasting well with the dark fibre on 

 which they were laid. 



The wind blew in gusts, and it was no easy mat- 

 ter to get them down safely ; but at length we 

 succeeded in getting them into our handkerchief, 

 and holding the ends together in our mouth, brought 

 them down without a crack. They were consider- 

 ably incubated, showing that they had probably 

 been laid about the end of the third week in March. 

 The Heron, indeed, is one of the earliest birds to 

 breed. The young, when first hatched, present a 

 very remarkable appearance, and are fed by their 

 parents for a long time before they can shift for 

 themselves. 



A friend once kept a Heron on his lawn, and a 

 very amusing bird he was. When first captured, 

 he was very sulky, and refused all food. Pearing 

 he would starve, the owner forced some fish down 

 the bird's throat, but the next moment saw it re- 

 turned upon the grass. The process was repeated 

 with the same result, and a third time my friend 

 endeavoured ineffectually to overcome the obstinacy 

 of his captive. At length, reflecting how the 

 Chinese treat their trained Cormorants, by fastening 

 a strap round the neck to prevent the fish from 

 going doicn, he tied a piece of tape round the 

 Heron's neck, to prevent the fish, in this case, from 

 coming vp. The experiment was perfectly success- 

 ful, and the bird finding it impossible to disgorge, 

 at length abandoned the attempt, and subsequently 

 fed himself. Pish were placed for him in a fountain 

 on the lawn, and he evinced great delight in taking 

 them from the water. One day a rat was observed 

 helping himself to the Heron's food. The rightful 

 owner caught him in the act, and with one blow of 

 his formidable lull felled him to the ground. Seizing 

 him, then, before he could recover, he carried him 

 squeaking to the fountain and ducked him. After 

 shaking him well under water, he held him up 

 for examination. The rat spluttered and squeaked 

 in abject terror,.and again was he submerged. The 

 dose was repeated, until the unfortunate rat at 

 length succumbed, and being by this time nice and 

 tender, the Heron pouched him, and his then elon- 

 gated form was seen distending the thin skin of the 

 bird's neck in its passage downwards, until it finally 

 disappeared for ever. 



J. E. Harting. 



DRAWING PHOM THE MICROSCOPE. 



THE difficulty experienced by all microscopists 

 of delineating upon paper, with accuracy, the 

 varied objects placed under the instruments, is only 

 partially overcome after many years' tedious practice 

 and observation. 



The well-known and long-tried Dr. Wollaston's 

 prism, and the neutral- tint glasses, although having 

 many objections, have still retained their position as 

 mediums for drawing : the difficulty always is, being- 

 unable to see the point of the pencil. 



When I say always, I mean a person who is about 

 to make, perhaps his first drawing, not those whose 

 eye is tutored with years of experience ; although 

 we know that it is not certainty with them. 



The outline being followed, and drawn with 

 tolerable accuracy, the fine and delicate detail must 

 be filled in by observation, from the instrument, as 

 every microscopist is aware. Suggestions and 

 appliances have from time to time been devised, 

 whereby the object may be followed on tracing- 

 paper from greyed glass. So far so good ; but every 



