GAME. 223 



' It was the beginning of the breeding season when we 

 went upon this expedition ; and, according to our English 

 notions, the pursuit of any game at such a time was 

 unlawful ; but it is not so regarded in this country. 



' We returned home to Wiercieliszki by a smoother and 

 more agreeable road. The Director joined us at supper, 

 and proved himself, by his amusing stories, to be not less 

 welcome a companion than he had been a kind and 

 zealous sportsman. 



' The crane is a bird often to be seen in this country. 

 They gather together in flocks, amounting to many 

 hundreds ; delighting chiefly in marshy ground, over 

 which they stalk gently with light and graceful step, 

 neither experiencing, nor appearing to fear, any molesta- 

 tion. 



' The stork also cannot fail, from its novelty, to attract 

 the notice of the English traveller. The first stork's nest 

 I ever saw was at Marienburg, on my way from Berlin to 

 Konigsberg ; and, at that season of the year, it was, of 

 course, untenanted. But the stork is held in great 

 reverence by the people among whom it takes up its 

 abode. Much pains are likewise taken to preserve the 

 stork's nest, and encourage the parent birds to return to 

 the spot which they have once selected for hatching and 

 rearing their young. The storks are often very lazy in 

 constructing their nests; and the people consequently 

 help them, by putting up an old harrow, or something of 

 the kind, on the roof of a barn, or the top of some unused 

 chimney, or the branches of a solitary tree. Over this 

 they spread a foundation of hay or straw, and then pile 

 upon it some twigs, or loose sticks, placed across each 

 other, after a rough fashion, to about the height of two 

 feet. This place the storks accept for their nest j and, 

 upon their arrival, will sit for hours, as if resting them- 

 selves after the fatigue of a long journey. They will then 

 set about the task of putting the nest into something like 

 order ; and, in about a fortnight, if the weather be warm, 

 will begin the work of incubation. The parent birds 



