264 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



of the reservoir is, or was, a thick bed of willows, 

 extending out some distance from the shore. The 

 water at this spot is shallow, with a muddy bottom. 

 Coots and Moorhens were numerous and noisy, 

 swimming about amongst the willows, and collecting 

 materials for their nests. We lay upon the grass 

 at the edge of the water, peering quietly through 

 the willows, and learnt a good deal of the private 

 life of these water-fowl. While we were gazing, a 

 Heron, which must have flown unnoticed up the 

 water, dropped suddenly in the shallow, within 

 twenty yards of our ambush. Here was an oppor- 

 tunity for observation : scarcely venturing to breathe, 

 we watched with interest every motion of the great 

 gray bird. His long black crest and pendent breast 

 feathers showed him to be fully adult, and we thought 

 at the time we had seldom seen a Heron in finer 

 plumage. With head and neck erect, he took a 

 cautious glance all round, as if to satisfy himself 

 that he was unobserved, and apparently assured, he 

 then looked down at the water ; for some minutes 

 he never altered his position, till at length, bending 

 slowly and gracefully forward, he suddenly struck 

 the water with his bill, and recovered a small fish. 



