WANDERERS. 255 



line of that absurd composition is apt to recur to 

 my mind. 



The night-crow, white-topped heron, or night- 

 heron, we are told by a recognised authority of 

 the present day, was recorded first in May 1872 ; 

 but it had been to my own knowledge shot fre- 

 quently without the fact being noticed. Like the 

 bittern, it only reaches us to be shot. Early im- 

 pressions are very lasting, and having been " bird- 

 struck " even as a youngster, I remember as though 

 it had only taken place yesterday, how old Craft 

 brought in from the marshes, where he had shot 

 it, the finest night -heron that had been seen by 

 us. That was long before the year 1872. 



As a rule old Craft was very communicative as 

 to his luck, but on the particular afternoon to 

 which I refer he stood before the bar of " The 

 Royal Anchor," with his gun and a bunch of birds, 

 in a decidedly glum state of mind. The worthy 

 landlord chaffed him about it, asking what ailed 

 him ? Had he seen a wreck ? Had he run out 

 of "ager" medicine? Had his pigs cut their 

 throats, swimming down the creek again? This 

 last allusion referred to what was usually a danger- 



