196 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



with the inscription, "Haec CIconIa ex Polonla." 

 The following summer it reappeared with some- 

 thing which shone very brightly on its neck, and 

 when the stork was taken again this was found 

 to be a collar of gold, with which the iron collar 

 had been replaced, and on it were graven the 

 words, "India cum donis remlttit ciconian 

 Polonis/' No person has yet put an iron collar 

 on the moor-hen to receive gifts in return, or fol- 

 lowed its feeble fluttering flight to discover the 

 limits of its migration which is probably no 

 further away than the Kentish marshes and other 

 wet sheltered spots in the south of England; that 

 it leaves the country when it quits the park is 

 not to be believed. Still, it goes with the wave, 

 and with the wave returns; and, like the migratory 

 birds that observe times and seasons, it comes 

 back to its own home — that circumscribed spot of 

 earth and water which forms its little world, and 

 is more to it than all other reedy and willow- 

 shaded pools and streams in England. It is said 

 to be shy in disposition, yet all may see it here, 

 within a few feet of the Row, with so many people 

 continually passing, and so many pausing to watch 

 the pretty birds as they trip about their little plot 



