214 The Beautiful Heron. [CHAP. XII. 
of the shires of Aberdeen and Banff. Of some of his ad- 
ventures during a ramble of this description he has sent 
me an account. This I consider so interesting that I have 
rewritten it, and now submit it for insertion in the Zoolo- 
gist. The facts, the ideas, and the reflections are all his 
own, and in many parts I have retained his own impres- 
sions. Upon the accuracy and the minuteness of his ob- 
servations, and upon his veracity of character, the utmost 
reliance may at all times be placed.” 
The paper that follows consists of the description of a 
ramble, extending over several days, in the hill districts 
near Noth and Kirnie. It is not necessary to transcribe 
the whole paper; but we may select the following passages 
as showing the keen observation as well as the character of 
the man. Edward had entered a narrow glen, at the bot- 
tom of which runs the burn called Ness Bogie. He was 
listening to the voice of the cuckoo, and the clap-clap of 
the ring-pigeons, which rose in great, numbers, when an ab- 
rupt turn of the road brought him, suddenly and unexpect- 
edly, within a few.yards of a beautiful heron. 
“T immediately stood still,” he says. “The upright and 
motionless attitude of the bird indicated plainly that he had 
been taken by surprise; and for the moment he seemed, as 
it were, stunned and incapable of flight. There he remained, 
as if fastened to the spot, his bright yellow eye staring me 
full in the face, and with an expression that seemed to in- 
‘quire what right I had to intrude into solitudes where the 
human form is so farely seen. As we were thus gazing at 
each other, in mutual surprise at having met in such a place, 
I observed his long slender neck quietly and gradually dou- 
bling down upon his breast. His dark and lengthened - 
plumes were at the same time slightly shaken. I knew by 
this that he was about to rise; another moment, and he was 
up. Stretching his long legs behind him, he uttered a 
scream so dismal, wild, and loud that the very glen and hills 
re-echoed the sound, and the whole scene was instantly filled 
