G. H. 3li rriiiiii — /lin/x of' ( 'niini'i-tinit. 1 I 7 



till tliv ini(l(lli' of Juiu', Imt, not widisliindiiiii- tlic ImcI that 1 f\crcisc<l 

 tlu' o-roatest caiitioii ii> apin-oarh, I nc\ci- so niiicli as caiiLiiit a iiiu- 

 iiKMitary gliin|»sc' of her I'oriii, tliou^li once or twice a sliailow srinu-il 

 to flit hurriedly hy :in(l (lisai>|>ear in jilaiii siglit. W'liat made it still 

 iiu>re iviuarkaltle was thai tlu' iiuiiiher of coms kc|)t iii('i-casiii>4 dav 

 by day, and I always found them warm, showinij; that the l»ird had 

 been gone but an instant. Onee, while I'eeling of the euu^s, I was so 

 startled by her harsh eraeklinu; ei-y, uttered suddenly at my very 

 feet, that I came near breaking- tlieni all, but still saw nothing of htr. 

 The time had come when we must move camp, so on the loth of 

 June I made a flnal eflbrt to secun- the old Itird. The nest now 

 contained twelve eggs, and T fancied I could hear the faint |»ei'|tin<j; 

 of a young bird in his attemi)t to extricate himself from the shell. 

 Stepping back a few paces, I waited, gun in hand, for the space of 

 two long hours, standing first on one leg, then on the other, like a 

 bashful country boy, till my patience was nearly exhausted and I 

 was on the point of leaving, when something daited (juicklv toward 

 the nest — it was enough ; the mangled remains sufficed to determine 

 the species. Meanwhile the egg had fairly hatched, and its noisy 

 contents had already gained no little use of its tiny twigs. How the 

 first hatched youngsters amuse themselves during the ten days, or 

 two weeks, whilst the other eggs are coming to maturity, will donbt- 

 less be fully elucidated by he who attempts to explain how it is 

 that a bird can give origin, in the coarse of a couple of wi-eks, to a 

 dozen of eggs, each nearly as large and heavy as her own body. 

 Certain it is that the processes of digestion, and assimilation of nutri- 

 ment, must go on in them much more rapidly than in ourselvi-s. 



Wilson remarked that, "Of all our land or water fowl, jn'rhaps 

 none afix>rd the sportsman more agreeable amusement, or a more 

 delicious repast, than the little bird now before us. This amusement 

 is indeed temporary, lasting only two or three hours in the day for 

 four or five weeks in each year." The mode of procedure is thus 

 described: "The sportsman furnishes himself with a light batteau, and 

 a stout experienced boatman, with a i)ole of twelve or fifteen feet long, 

 thickened at the lower end to ])revent it tiom sinking too deep into 

 the mud. About two hours or so before high water they enter the 

 reeds, and each takes his post, the sportsman standing in the bow- 

 ready for action, the boatman on the stern seat pushing her steadily 

 through the reeds. The IJail generally spring singly, as the boat 

 advances, and at a short distance ahead, are instantly shot <lown, 

 while the boatman, keeping his eye on the spot where the bird fell, 



