150 H. LEWIS NOTES ON BIRDS 



Mr. Secbolim ('British Birds,' vol. i, p. 532) says: "The raven, 

 once so famous in fable, and held by the ancients in such respect as 

 a bird of destiny, is now rapidly becoming scarce in England .... 

 almost the only places where a few scattered pairs are found are the 

 bold rocky headlands of our coasts, in districts little frequented by 

 man, where the bird, gifted as it is with no small amount of sagacity 

 and prudence, is able still to maintain its ground. But slowly and 

 surely these English ravens are passing away ; their deserted eyries 

 possess only historical interest ; and the day is probably not far 

 distant when it can no longer be counted as an English bird." Mr. 

 Dresser (iv, 573) states that "As a rule the raven is a shy, cautious 

 bird, as crafty and clever amongst birds as the fox is amongst 

 quadrupeds. . . Amongst the early Scandinavians," he adds, "the 

 raven was looked on as possessing wisdom to a peculiar extent ; and 

 in the Sagas it is related that Odin possessed two ravens which 

 traversed great distances, and, returning to their master, whispered 

 iuto his ears the information they had gained during their journey." 



Bittern {Botaurus stellar is). — The Hon. Walter Rothschild in- 

 forms me that an adult bittern was shot on the Reservoirs, in 

 December, 1894. From Mr. Littleboy's register I gather that 

 a nest with four eggs was taken at one of the reservoirs in 1849 

 by the Rev. James Williams. Dresser (vi, 282) informs us that 

 " it is now merely a rare straggler [to England] and no longer 

 breeds here." Three of these rare birds have been obtained in 

 this county which have never been recorded in our ' Transactions.' 

 One was brought to me alive some years since, wounded in the 

 wing. It was shot near St. Albans. The other two were shot 

 near a small pond close to the late Mr. Thrale's house at No-Man's- 

 Land. Dresser (vi, 285) remarks of the bittern: " When winged 

 or wounded it is by no means an easy task to get hold of it ; for 

 it defends itself with great pluck and determination, throwing 

 itself back and using bill and claws as weapons of defence, and 

 I have seen a dog get considerably the worst of it in an attack 

 on a wounded bird." Mr. Seebolim (' British Birds,' vol. ii, p, 

 602) says : " There are about five-and- twenty species of bitterns, 

 which are distributed throughout the woj-ld, except in the ex- 

 treme north. Two species are European, both of which are very 

 rare residents in the British Islands, and a third has repeatedly 

 visited our islands from the American continent." This bird, 

 from its habit of choosing solitary swamps and dismal morasses, 

 is intimately associated in our minds with all that is desolate 

 and forsaken. 



The TE.iL {Querquedula crecca). — This little duck, Mr. Hartert 

 says, was observed " in flocks on the Reservoirs at the end of 

 December and beginning of January." 



The Shoveller (SjMituIa chjpeata), Pochard {FuliguJa ferina), 

 and Tufted Duck {F. cristata). — These ducks, Mr. Hartert writes, 

 " were shot on the Reservoirs at different times during the shooting- 

 season." " The range of the shoveller," Dresser (vi, 498) states, 

 " is very extensive .... Though more particularly a fi-esh- water 



