218 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



been Breconshire ; now, however, it is scarce. Still a great many 

 have been killed in various parts of the county from time to time. 

 Mr. Gwynne Holford shot one at Llangorse Lake some years 

 ago, and several have been killed there since. Near Llandulas 

 Church, situate in the most wild and desolate part of the 

 county, and which is hunted by Col. Jones, of Llandovery, with 

 his excellent pack of harriers, there are several rushy bogs, and 

 not long since in one of these the Colonel when hunting constantly 

 flushed a Bittern ; it did not fly far, but settled again close by. 

 As it seemed to have a decided attachment to the spot I hope it 

 is still in the neighbourhood. The feathers of this bird were 

 formerly — and I believe still are — in great request with anglers 

 for making a particular salmon-fly. The Welsh for Bittern is, 

 like most other Welsh names, wonderfully descriptive, viz., 

 " Aderyn-y-bwn" (the bird with the hollow sound), from "bwrnp," 

 a hollow sound ; hence probably the English word " boom," so 

 generally applied to the noise made by the bird. 



The Little Bittern, Botaurus mhiutus, so far as I can learn, is 

 unknown in this county, for after numerous enquiries I am unable 

 to record any instance of its occurrence here. It is possible, how- 

 ever, that being only an occasional summer visitor, it has, from 

 the nature of its haunts and its shy retiring habits, hitherto 

 escaped observation. 



Water Kail, Rallus aquaticus. — Remains with us all the year 

 round, and may be very generally found in all the marshy places 

 of the county ; it is seldom seen, on account of its skulking habits, 

 but it is far more common with us than is generally supposed. 

 It counterfeits death exceedingly well. In shooting round a lake 

 near here, I flushed a Water Hail close to me. I fired, and down 

 fell the bird. On picking it up, it lay in my hand for some 

 minutes motionless, and to all appearance dead. I was looking 

 for a shot-mark, when suddenly, as I looked away for a moment, 

 without the slightest warning, it flew off. I was so surprised 

 that I could hardly believe my eyes. My dogs moved the bird 

 twice afterwards, but I gave the clever little fellow the liberty it 

 had so well earned. The late Mr. Marsh used to say that dogs 

 hunt the Water Bail with greater avidity than any other water 

 bird, when once it has been killed to them ; and I have found this 

 to be the case, several dogs I have had taking the greatest 

 pleasure in hunting them. Some years ago I had a fine stuffed 



