WADING BIRDS. 315 



other cases. "A gentleman being on a shooting excursion, 

 accompanied by a small spaniel, observed a heron wading 

 a little above a waterfall. He fired wounded it and sent 

 his dog into the stream to bring it to land. As soon as the 

 dog had come within its reach, the heron drew back its 

 head, and with all its force, struck him in the ribs with its 

 bill. The gentleman again fired, and killed the heron; but 

 it had well revenged itself: both dog and heron floated dead 

 together, down the foaming waterfall." The Heron nests on 

 the tops of high trees and lives in companies. 

 The Bittern. The Bittern is remarkable for its loud booming 

 cry which has some resemblance to the bellowing of a bull, 

 and for its spiral flight which it pursues to a great altitude 

 The stork. Storks are found in different parts of Europe, 

 Asia and Africa. In Holland, and in some other countries, 

 they live in a state of semi-domestication, encouraged by the 

 people, and building nests upon the roofs of their houses. 

 They feed on rats, mice, frogs, and other vermin, and 

 render the Hollander good service by keeping down the 

 numbers of such pests. In the East they act as scavengers, 

 and for this reason are as much encouraged by the people. 

 "A recent visitor to Constantinople," says Mr. Wood, "remarks 

 that the very Storks seemed to have become Ottoman, for 

 they sat on the tops of the houses, looking staid and solemn, 

 as becomes the Oriental character, and managed their beaks 

 just as if they were pipes. It is true that they wore no 

 turbans, but each of them appeared to have left a turban of 

 preposterous dimensions, viz., his nest, on the roof of a house 

 close by." The Stork is easily tamed and sometimes shows 

 considerable intelligence. 



The Jealousy The following illustration which we take from 

 of the Stork, the " Percy Anecdotes" shows that the Stork shares 

 with other birds the feeling of jealousy. " In Smyrna there 

 are a great number of storks, who build their nests and hatch 

 their young very regularly. The inhabitants, in order to divert 



