SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 247 



improvements thus effected, we cannot but contemplate with regret 

 the total extermination of so beautiful and interesting a bird. The 

 Common Heron is certainly, to some extent, a nocturnal species, 

 though perhaps not to the degree intimated by Mr. Gould. It 

 feeds on almost any kind of fish it can get, devouring an incredible 

 number in a given period, on which account it ranks, in the system 

 of the gamekeeper, in the class "varmint." It catches its prey 

 standing in shallow water, waiting, with its head buried between 

 its shoulders for hours together, until its hunger is appeased. It 

 also destroys Mice, Rats, Shrews, Lizards, Frogs, &c., and even, 

 according to Mr. Gould, aquatic insects. It builds in companies, 

 forming a large coarse nest of sticks, lined with wool, on tall trees, 

 and laying four or five bluish-green eggs. The only chance we can 

 perceive of retaining the Heron in Britain is by leaving it unmo- 

 lested in parks and other retired places, where they are easily 

 induced to remain and breed. We have seen several of them in the 

 park of Walton Hall, the seat of the benevolent and amiable wan- 

 derer, Charles Waterton, Esq., and their numbers are annually 

 increasing under his kindly care. 



Whiterumped Woodpecker, Picus leuconotus — Pic leuconote, Fr. 

 — Picchio vario. It, — WeissrUckiger Spechtelster, G. The male 

 and female are figured of the natural size, but scarcely, we opine, 

 in natural attitudes ; we have not, however, much fault to find with 

 the i)late. This bird is not found in the south of Europe, and is not a 

 British bird ; " its true habitat appears to be Siberia and the adja- 

 cent parts of Russia, whence it occasionally emigrates as far as the 

 North of Germany, but this is only in severe winters.'* In habits 

 it resembles its congeners, and it feeds on various insects and larvae. 

 Lays its four or five white eggs in the hole of a tree, making no 

 nest. " It may always be distinguished from the Greater Spotted 

 Woodpecker of England by the blotches along the flanks, by the 

 pure white of the rump, and the more extended crimson of the 

 abdomen." The author believes that the only specimens of this bird 

 in Britain are in his possession. 



The Heath Madge, Otus vulgaris — Hibou moy endue, Fr. — 

 Mittler Ohreule, G. An extremely beautiful plate, representing 

 the adult male, but we could have wished the plumage of the 

 head had been a trifle more mothy. Inhabits the whole of Europe 

 and many parts of America, haunting the depths of forests. In this 

 country it abounds chiefly in Scotland and the north of England, 

 feeding on Rats, Mice, Moles, Shrews, &c. It lays four white eggs 

 in the deserted nest of a Crow, Magpie, or other large bird. The 



