170 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



shepherd and his faithful dog. In that recess formed 

 by two moss-clad slabs of mica-slate, the lively wren 

 jerks up its little tail, and chits its merry note, as it 

 recalls its straggling young ones that have wandered 

 among the bushes. From the sedgy slope, sprinkled 

 with white cotton-grass, comes the shrill cry of the 

 solitary curlew ; and there, high over the heath, wings 

 his meandering way the joyous snipe, giddy with excess 

 of unalloyed happiness. 



There another has sprung from among the yellow 

 flowered marigolds that profusely cover the marsh. 

 Upwards slantingly, on rapidly vibrating wings, he 

 shoots, uttering the while his shrill two -noted cry. 

 Tissick, tissick, quoth the snipe, as he leaves the bog. 

 Now in silence he wends his way, until at length, 

 having reached the height of perhaps a thousand feet, he 

 zigzags along, emitting a louder and shriller cry of zoo- 

 zee, zoo-zee, zoo-zee, which over, varying his action, he 

 descends on quivering pinions, curving toward the earth 

 with surprising speed, while from the rapid beats of his 

 wing the tremulous air gives to the ear what at first 

 seems the voice of distant thunder. This noise some 

 have likened to the bleating of a goat at a distance on 

 the hillside, and thus have named our bird the air-goat 

 and air-bleater. The sound, I think, is evidently 

 produced by the rapid action of the wings, which, during 

 its continuance, are seen to be in tremulous motion. It 

 comes on the ear soon after the bird commences its 

 descent, and ceases when, having gained the lowest part 

 of the curve, it recovers itself, and ascends with a 



