12 
Animal Life 
no feathers, and all seemed possessed with one 
idea, and that was either to limb a small brother 
or swallow him whole, and all kept up either a 
shriek of fear or pain or a yell of rage. Floating 
on the top of the putrid water were masses of 
dead birds, some with legs torn off, others without 
heads or wings. Most of them were dead, but 
others were dragging their maimed carcases about 
in a ghastly manner. So intent were they on 
their fiendish pastime that they took little notice 
of us, and dragged and clawed themselves about 
after their weaker brethren at our very feet, whilst 
the old parent birds sat looking on from the 
topmost twigs as if fractricide were the proper 
moral pastime for the young. <A big spoonhbill 
PANOLIAN DEBR. 
following interesting ac- 
count of a visit to one 
of these breeding-places 
is given in Mr. Barkley’s 
work, “ Bulgaria Before 
the War.” He found a 
colony on an island a 
few miles below Rust- 
chuk, and he describes 
the scene as follows :— 
“Pushing our small boat 
into a narrow creek, we 
took off our shoes and 
stockings, and, turning 
up our trousers, picked 
our way through the 
tangled boughs in the 
direction of the sound, which evidently proceeded 
from the centre of the island, and I shall not easily 
forget the sight we beheld when we reached it. 
There, on the pressed-down boughs of the willows, 
only a few feet above the water, were hundreds of 
great flat nests of the various kinds of herons, 
spoonbills, egrets, bitterns, etc., all huddled together 
in one confused mass, and the entire colony reeking 
with the most indescribably filthy smell. It was 
rather late for eggs, as most of them were hatched 
off, but was just the time to observe the doings of 
the children of these sedate, quiet, peaceful-looking 
birds, and I must say that I have never yet beheld such 
a collection of little fiends, nor a more hideous set. 
Their bodies were of the smallest proportions, while 
every other part of them—their wings, legs, necks, 
and beaks—were of the longest. Most of them had 
: BS) 
EAST PANOLIAN 
DEER 
would chase a 
till at last he 
small egret from bough to bough 
tired it out, and then, seizing it 
with one claw, would 
take hold of its leg or 
wing and tear it from 
the poor victim, or else, 
getting its head in its 
mouth, would try to 
swallow it whole, and 
eulp and gulp till so 
much of the poor little 
ome was down its throat 
that it was itself choked, 
and would turn over on 
its back, kicking and 
struggling, to be in turn 
seized by a brother and 
torn limb from limb. 
All uttered some hideous 
RED DEER AND YOUNG. 
