4 LAKES AND RIVERS. 



taken in Norfolk in living memory, is a loose struc- 

 ture, formed of aquatic plants, and contains from 

 three to five eggs of a very dull greenish or yellowish- 

 white, faintly washed with ochre. The Bittern is not 

 very uncommon as a winter visitor to Britain, more 

 especially in stormy weather, for the influence of 

 winds diverts it from its natural course between 

 Arctic and Southern Europe, its stronghold being 

 Hungary and the marshes of Lithuania. 



Among the birds of the family which are now very 

 scarce, but which in former times inhabited our 

 marshy districts, may be mentioned the little Egret, 

 Ardea garzetta, an exquisite white species, i foot 

 10 inches from beak to tail. This bird is decorated, 

 in the breeding season, by long plumes, or aigrettes, 

 proceeding from the back of the head, and by 

 very remarkable hair-like feathers about the wings 

 and breast; the latter are the heron's plumes, 

 which were so eagerly sought in ancient and 

 modern times for decorating the human head, and 

 which are now sometimes set with sprays of diamonds 

 by the most fashionable jewellers. This exquisite bird, 

 from the efforts to obtain it in the breeding season, 

 as well as by the drainage of the marshes, which has 

 destroyed the sanctuaries of its nest, has become 

 almost extinct in England, for it is only after very 

 long intervals that specimens are obtained. The 

 same may be said of the much larger Great White 

 Heron (Ardea egretta), which resembles it in colour. 

 This bird is one of our rarest visitors, and we 

 have no record that it ever bred in Britain. Its 



