AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 133 



Little Bitterns, for the most part adult birds snared 

 at their nests, were annually sent alive from Holland 

 to Leadenhall Market in May and June. These 

 birds were invariably more or less injured about their 

 heads and eyes, and in my experience seldom lived 

 for any length of time, but I have succeeded fairly 

 well in keeping young birds in good condition ; they 

 are, however, delicate, and very restless at night; 

 their actions are most peculiar and interesting, but 

 although they often become very tame, they are very 

 shy of observation. I have a fine adult male of this 

 species preserved at Lilford that w^as killed many 

 years ago in the breeding-season in East Norfolk, 

 and I have very little doubt that if a price was not 

 set upon these birds, they w^ould nest annually in 

 many parts of our country. The presence of my 

 Norfolk specimen was made known to the marsh- 

 man who shot it by its note, which he had heard 

 previously many years before this occurrence, and 

 compared very aptly to the grunt given by a paviour 

 in ramming down stones or wooden piles. I can 

 only describe this note in words by " woogh, woogh," 

 with very guttural final sound. 



169. WHITE STORK. 



Ciconia alha> 



I give this bird a place in these Notes without 

 any hesitation on the authority of Sir Herewald 

 Wake, who, if my memory serves me correctly, 

 originally told me in 1876 of the occurrence, and on 

 my request for further details, wrote on July 11, 1887, 



