226 LECTURE VI. 



fills. A young bird of this species is preserved in 

 the British Museum. 



Many highly elegant birds belong to the genus 

 Ardea, among which may be particularized the 

 Egret or Ardea Garzetta, a beautiful white spe- 

 cies, remarkable for affording, like some other 

 birds of this tribe, a peculiarly elegant kind of 

 long and delicate feathers, appropriated by he- 

 raldic rules to the decoration of certain orders of 

 knio-hthood and other ceremonials. 



Tlie Stork is a large species of Fleron, of a 

 white colour, with tlie longer wing-feathers black, 

 and the legs and beak of a bright red. 



The Bitterns are a kind of Herons which differ 

 from the rest in the thicker oi- shorter appearance 

 of their bodies, and in the fulness of the feathers 

 on the breast. The common Bittern, whick is the 

 Ardea stellaris of Linnaeus, is a very elegant bird, 

 of a pale yellowish brown, beautifully varied with 

 darker streaks and specks : it is found in marshy 

 situations, and is remarkable for uttering, during 

 some particular states of the weather, a pecuHarly 

 loud and sudden noise, the nature of which has 

 given rise to many disputes among naturalists, 

 and is thus explained by Sir Thomas Browne. 

 " That a Bittor maiieth that mugient noise, or 



