NEST EXPLORED. 23 



porting myself with one hand, partially explore its 

 contents with the other. Having, however, suc- 

 ceeded in this, I soon felt the decomposing and 

 flattened bodies of two young herons, and above 

 them the warm plumage of a living bird, wliich 

 did not appear to avoid the touch of my hand. 

 An effort with both arms now brought my face to 

 a level with the nest, but I had scarcely time to 

 perceive that it contained a healthy and perfectly 

 fledged young bird, sitting complacently on the 

 bodies of his defunct brethren, before he darted 

 violently at my eyes, although he had previously 

 evinced no displeasure at the introduction of my 

 hand, and I w^as only able to protect them by 

 bobbing my head suddenly, and receiving the 

 attack in a less vulnerable quarter. As if roused 

 by the sudden exertion, he then scrambled out of 

 the nest to the extremity of an adjoining bough, 

 from whence — being unable to follow him — I 

 endeavoured to shake him off, but for a long 

 time in vain. The obstinacy with which he 

 maintained his hold was extraordinary, and even 

 after losing his equilibrium, and hanging, head 

 downwards, for a few moments, just as I fancied 

 he was about to drop, he suddenly clutched the 

 branch more firmly than ever, and writhing his 

 elastic neck upwards, he seized a twig with his 

 beak, which he held with all the tenacity of 



