NEST EXPLORED. 23 



contents with the other. Having, however, suc- 

 ceeded in this, I soon felt the decomposing and 

 flattened bodies of two young herons, and above 

 them the warm plumage of a living bird, which 

 did not appear to avoid the touch of my hand. 

 An effort with both arms now brought my face to 

 a level with the nest, but I had scarcely time to 

 perceive that it contained a healthy and perfectly 

 fledged young bird, sitting complacently on the 

 bodies of his defunct brethren, before he darted 

 violently at my eyes, although he had previously 

 evinced no displeasure at the introduction of my 

 hand, and I was only able to protect them by bob- 

 bing my head suddenly, and receiving the attack 

 in a less vulnerable quarter. As if roused by the 

 sudden exertion, he then scrambled out of the 

 nest to the extremity of an adjoining bough, from 

 whence being unable to follow him I endeavour- 

 ed to shake him off, but for a long time in vain. 

 The obstinacy with which he maintained his hold 

 was extraordinary, and even after losing his equi- 

 librium, and hanging, head downwards, for a few 

 moments, just as I fancied he was about to drop, 

 he suddenly clutched the branch more firmly than 

 ever, and writhing his elastic neck upwards, he 

 seized a twig with his beak, which he held with all 

 the tenacity of a parrot. I therefore continued 

 to shake the bough, and after persevering in this 



