A MOORLAND SANCTUARY 137 



among the reeds. The fox's home was in a cairn 

 not far from the highest point of the moor ; but, 

 since the air was warm and gave promise of a 

 perfect day, he turned aside from his path, lay 

 down on the dry tussock where the bitterns had 

 nested, and fell asleep. 



At dawn he was awakened by a faint rustle 

 among the reeds. Peeping from his " seat " he 

 saw the bitterns slowly approaching him along 

 the track- way by which he himself had come in 

 pursuit of the hare. His eyes ablaze, he crouched 

 for an instant ; then, bounding from the 

 tussock, he struck down one of the young birds 

 and fastened his teeth in its breast. The other 

 young birds quickly vanished, but, as the fox 

 stood over his fluttering victim, the parent 

 bitterns, abandoning every thought of danger, 

 closed in and struck him repeatedly with their 

 beaks and wings, inflicting such strong and rapid 

 blows as for some moments to bewilder their 

 enemy. He retreated a few paces ; then, 

 recovering from his confusion, and mad with 

 rage, he leaped high into the air once, twice, 

 thrice. The conflict was over, and before him 

 lay, fluttering in the throes of death, the two 

 rare and beautiful birds which, probably alone 

 of all their kind, had nested that year in Britain. 



Away on the fringe of the marsh, the fugitive 

 young bitterns lurked in hiding through the day. 



