172 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



then gliding placidly between banks covered with fresh 

 herbage and gaudy florets of many hues. The hum of 

 the wild bee draws your eye toward those beautiful tufts 

 of purple trefoil ; the weet-weet, ever vibrating its body 

 as if delicately balanced on its slim legs, runs along the 

 sunny beach, spreads out its pointed wings, and skims 

 over the pool. There, in the water, nearly up to the 

 knees, is the heron, patiently waiting an opportunity of 

 seizing some giddy trout. Those ducklings that swim 

 so beautifully, and dive with such marvellous quickness, 

 he seems to eye with hungry glance ; but their watchful 

 protectress is in the midst of them. That wary old 

 water-rat is equally safe, as he nibbles the grass at the 

 mouth of his hole, and at intervals trims his whiskers 

 with his little paws. In short, go where you will, in 

 summer or in winter, to the shores of the sea or the far 

 inland lake, the source of the estuary of the hill-born 

 streams, you may here and there find a solitary heron. 

 British Birds, vol. iv. p. 445. 



22. THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



It is a lovely night in June ; the moon slowly emerges 

 from behind the distant mountains, the northern horizon 

 is still red with the glare of the departed sun, the winds 

 have sunk to rest, and no sound is heard save the faint 

 murmur of the waves that clash over the distant reefs. 

 Yet, hark ! the terns are abroad, and their shrill cries 

 come faintly on the ear, from the far-off* sand -point, 



