THE heuok. 87 



chick at home in all respects, but was prettier about the 

 head. It was a summer migrant to our parts, and a pair 

 or two might then be seen on any water-hole ; and it is 

 a wonder how they become so generally dispersed, when 

 we consider their weak powers of flight. "We had one 

 or two other species of grebe, very rare, however, in our 

 district. 



It is no wonder that a country like this should abound 

 in swamp birds of every description, and the Bittern, which 

 more than perhaps any other shuns the haunts of man, is 

 one of the commonest of the wild tenants of the Australian 

 waste. I have killed eight or ten in the day, rising from 

 the rushes and grass in one large swamp, and any day 

 in the autumn I could bring home a couple of bitterns. 

 They appear much to resemble the European bird, but 

 are a little duller in colour. The call-note is exactly the 

 same, and often have I been startled, when quietly seated 

 at night watching a duck-hole, by the heavy bump of the 

 bittern from the reeds close to me ; and as the weary 

 shooter is plodding his homeward way^ after evening has 

 closed in over the dreary swamp, the dull measured boom 

 of this solitary bird appears to add to the desolation 

 which reigns over all, I have heard of a little bittern 

 being killed out here, but never saw one. 



The Heron is very common on the low marshy grounds, 

 and by the sides of the creeks ; and I have seen large flocks 

 of thirty or forty together. In size and plumage it re- 

 sembles the European heron, but is not nearly so fine or 

 handsome a bird ; and many of the feathers, especially 



