116 



THE SHORES. 



prince, a feudal bird ; kings esteemed it kingly sport to hunt him, and 



considered him a meet quany for the 

 noble falcon. And so keenly was 

 he hunted, that already, in the reign 

 of Francis I., he had gi'own rare : 

 that monarch lodged him near his 

 own palace at Fontainebleau, and 

 established there some heronries. 

 Two or three centuries pass, and 

 BufFon can still believe that there 

 are no provinces in France where 

 heronries could not be found. In 

 our own days, Toussenel knows of 

 but one in all the countr}^ — at least 

 in its northern districts, in Cham- 

 pagne : a wood between Rheims and 

 Epernay conceals the last asylum 

 where the poor lonely bird still dares 

 to hide his loves. 



Lonely 1 In that lies his con- 

 demnation. Less gi'egarious than the 

 crane, less domesticated than the 

 stork, he seems to have gi'o^Ti harsh 

 towards his progeny, towards the 

 mate whom he loves. His brief 

 rare fits of desire scarcely beguile 

 him for a day from his melancholy. 

 He cares little for life. In captivity 

 he often refuses nourishment, and 

 pines away without complaint and 

 without regi'et. 



Tlie aquatic birds, creatures of 

 great experience, for the most part 

 reflective and learned in two elements, were, at their palmiest epoch, 



