444 ARDEA CINEREA. 



along the ridge 5, along the edge of lower mandible 61 ; 

 wing from flexure 19^ ; tail 7^ ; bare part of tibia 2^ ; tarsus 

 5^ ; hind toe 1^, its claw T 7 ^; middle toe 3 T 7 ¥ , its claw -^-. 



Female. — The female is similar to the male, but some- 

 what smaller, and with the occipital crest less elongated. 



Habits. — The cold blasts of the north sweep along the 

 ruffled surface of the lake, over whose deep waters frown the 

 rugged crags of rusty gneiss, having their crevices sprinkled 

 with tufts of withered herbage, and their summits crowned 

 with stunted birches and alders. The desolate hills around 

 are partially covered with snow, the pastures are drenched 

 with the rains, the brown torrents seam the heathy slopes, 

 and the little birds have long ceased to enliven those deserted 

 thickets with their gentle songs. Margining the waters 

 extends a long muddy beach, over which are scattered blocks 

 of stone, partially clothed with dusky and olivaceous weeds. 

 Here and there a Gull floats buoyantly in the shalloAvs ; 

 some Oyster-catchers repose on a gravel bank, their bills 

 buried among their plumage : and there, on that low shelf, 

 is perched a solitary Heron, like a monument of listless 

 indolence — a bird petrified in its slumber. At another time, 

 when the tide has retired, you may find it wandering, with 

 slow and careful tread, among the little pools, and by the 

 sides of the rocks, in search of small fishes and crabs ; but, 

 unless you are bent on watching it, you will find more 

 amusement in observing the lively Tringas and Turnstones, 

 ever in rapid motion ; for the Heron is a dull and lazy bird, 

 or at least he seems to be such ; and even if you draw near, 

 he rises in so listless a manner, that you think it a hard 

 task for him to unfold his large wings and heavily beat the 

 air, until he has fairly raised himself. But now he floats 

 away, lightly though with slow flappings, screams his harsh 

 cry, and hies to some distant place, where he may remain 

 unmolested by the prying naturalist. 



Perhaps you may wonder at finding him in so cold and 

 desolate a place as this dull sea-creek, on the most northern 

 coast of Scotland, and that, too, in the very midst of winter ; 



