I l8 love's meinie. 



three Allegrets as the second group of the 

 dab- or dabble-chicks ; and, while the water- 

 ouzel is a mountain and torrent bird, these 

 inhabit exclusively flat lands and calm water, 

 belonging properly to temperate, inclining to 

 warm, climates, and able to gladden for us — 

 as their name now given implies — many scenes 

 and places otherwise little enlivened ; and to 

 make the very gnats of them profitable to us, 

 were we wise enough. Dainty and delight- 

 ful creatures in all their ways, — voice only 

 dubitable, but I hope not a shriek or a 

 squeak ; — and there seems to be no reason 

 whatever why half our fen lands should not 

 be turned into beds of white water lilies and 

 golden ducks, with jetty ducklings, to the 

 great comfort of English souls.* 



III. 



TREPIDA STAGNARUM. LITTLE GREBE. 



lOO. The two birds — Torrent-ouzel, and 

 Lily - ouzel, — which we have been just 



* Compare Bishop Stanley's account of the larger tropical 

 •Jacana,' p. 311. "One species is often tamed, and from 

 its being a resolute enemy to birds of prey, the inhabitants 



