162 BIKDS OF NOEFOLK. 



been enjoying a short cruise on tlie Bure and its tribu- 

 taries, and on that day following its tortuous course 

 above Acle Bridge we chanced to arrive, late in the 

 afternoon, at a point of this narrow stream where 

 Wroxham on the one side and Hoveton on the 

 other give the impression, almost, of one vast broad 

 bisected only by a navigable channel. Here, conve- 

 niently moored against a broad dry " rand " the 

 " Ripple " was made snug for the night, and whilst the 

 skipper busied himself with culinary operations, I took 

 my stand on the cabin roof to obtain a more extended 

 view of those picturesque waters. Presently as I was 

 watching the actions of a pair of great-crested grebes, 

 alternately diving and preening their glossy feathers, a 

 laro'e bird rose from a dense reed-bed on the Hoveton 

 side, and flapped slowly over the water to a similar 

 shelter opposite. There was no mistaking it, though 

 I had never before seen a bittern on the wing, and I 

 anxiously waited for another chance of confirming my 

 impression. In less than a quarter of an hour it rose 

 again, and having my glass ^' well on" as it flew, heron- 

 like, back again to its former covert, the colour of 

 the plumage together with the rounded form of the 

 wings, left no doubt on my mind ; and on subsequently 

 informing Mr. Blofeld of the fact, I learnt that its 

 peculiar cry had been heard prior to my visit. 



The sight of a bittern on the wing, with all the 

 accessories of that wild watery waste, is one, now-a- 

 days, at least, not likely to be forgotten by the most 

 indifferent observer, much less an ornithologist; but 

 there are other circumstances connected with that 

 particular evening which have indelibly impressed the 

 novelty on my mind. Still waiting and watching in 

 the vain hope of witnessing a third flight, my attention 

 was arrested by the rich crimson hue that had gradually 

 pervaded all the clouds to the eastward, and turning I 



