CHAP, iv.] PARADOXICAL HABITS. 281 



within limits, invisible indeed to the material eye, yet 

 as impassable and as exclusive as a wall of brass. 

 ' Hither shalt thou come, but no further,' with safety 

 or comfort to thyself. This command, although not 

 pronounced, is a part of the natural instinct of every 

 animal in a state of nature. Domestication can do 

 much, but its effect is almost entirely limited to those 

 animals which have been marked out by our Creator as 

 destined to the service of Man. Let him be thankful 

 for these exceptions, and not, with a modern philo- 

 sopher, idly boast of mans conquest of nature, when 

 his highest faculties cannot domesticate a worm ! " * 



The Water Hen seems as much disinclined as the 

 worm to submit itself to human discipline, or to go in 

 any other way than its own, however frequently it may 

 cross our path, or delight to intrude as a privileged tres- 

 passer, whom there is no gainsaying, within the precincts 

 of our gardens and shrubberies. It is one of the most 

 paradoxical of the feathered race, not in mere form, but 

 in habits and temper combined with form. There are 

 few birds whose entire banishment from this island 

 would be less noticed by the inhabitants of cities, and 

 more immediately remarked by those whose home is fixed 

 in certain rural localities, than the Water Hen. Even 

 in large towns the loss of the occasional sight of the 

 Rook or the Sparrow (in whose expulsion we would cor- 

 dially assist), of the numerous birds that are seen and 

 heard here and there in cages, or now and then in the 

 game shops nay, even of Hawks and Owls (though the 

 gamekeepers have pretty severely reduced their num- 

 bers), would be observed, and perhaps cause inquiries ; 



* Swainson. 



