3008 THE ZooLoGist—A PRIL, 1872. 
would eat the goat during his absence, and so on. I need not 
pursue the familiar story. Have not we sent the Irish wolf over 
the water and left the goat to eat up the vegetables ? 
I fear the case is a hopeless one, for J doubt whether Irish 
landowners would appreciate a scheme for promoting the growth of 
timber by a re-importation of the wolves. 
Epwin BIrcHALL. 
February 10, 1872. 
Ornithological Notes from Northumberland for 1871. 
By T. H. Gres, Esq. 
Little Bittern.—A fine male of this rare species was captured 
early in May, in a belt of timber contiguous to the Cawledge, a 
small rivulet which flows into the river Aln, about two miles from 
the town of Alnwick. The plumage is that of an adult bird, and 
is in great perfection. Weight four ounces and three-quarters ; 
length fifteen inches and a half; expanse of wings twenty inches; 
tail two inches long, composed of eight feathers. Iris dark 
chrome; eyelids and bare parts surrounding the eyes pale 
yellowish green. The legs very powerful and looking dispropor- 
tionately thick. It was flushed from the ground by Mr. Chrisp, 
of Hawkhill, and another gentleman, and after a short flight 
alighted on a tree, where it remained for nearly an hour before it 
was shot, displaying meanwhile such immobility as to appear 
more like an offshoot of the branch on which it was perched than 
a thing possessing life. The proneness of the bitterns to remain 
(apparently) inanimate when threatened with danger or disturbed 
in the even tenor of their way, even when placed in localities 
offering ready and safe loopholes of retreat, seems passing strange ; 
nevertheless it is a trait in their character very often exhibited, and 
one I have often observed in their North American congener, A. 
lentiginosa. On one occasion while shooting on Tantamar Marsh, 
in Nova Scotia, in 1856, in company with a friend, a specimen of 
the latter flew past and alighted amongst some tall grass, and sub- 
sequently carried the proclivity of its race to such an extent that 
it allowed itself to be fired at five times by my friend, who was an 
indifferent marksman, before it fell, remaining during the time of 
loading and firing as motionless as a post, to which indeed it bore 
a great resemblance, with its contracted neck and bill pointed 
