THROUGH WILD EUROPE 315 



Rettig and I climbed up on the roof in order to loot 

 the Storks' eggs, for there were several nests. Un- 

 fortunately, they all held young birds, which were 

 no good to us. If they had only been eatable we 

 would have taken them fast enough. There would, 

 I expect, have been a fine shindy if we had been 

 seen up there, as the Storks are much venerated 

 here, and it is difficult to get eggs for that reason. 



On the lake of Raselm, which we passed again, 

 we found a large colony of Herring Gulls, which 

 seemed to have yellower legs and feet than our 

 Larus argentatus, a dirty, yellowish white, but not 

 yellow enough for Larus cachinnans, the usual 

 Mediterranean form. There were a lot of well- 

 grown young birds, but I managed to find a few 

 clutches of eggs, though no more than two in a clutch. 

 Rettig near here shot a pair of Great White Herons 

 (Ardea alba), the male of which had beautiful long 

 plumes — over forty, I think, writing from memory. 

 We had seen a few before, and near Galatz they 

 seemed not so uncommon, but we did not turn up 

 any ' nests in this country. The female, unfortu- 

 nately, was spoilt by being too badly shot. We 

 might have saved the skin, perhaps, if we had been 

 quietly at home ; but working as one goes, in a 

 small boat, with no room to move and nowhere to 

 put anything, is not conducive to good results in 

 difficult cases. I must say, however, that the rest 



