Birds. 



6637 



hovering round and round a little above him. Whether it was any- 

 thing dropped by the heron to get rid of his tormentor, or some other 

 article of food floating on or near to the surface of the water, which 

 had attracted the eye of the crow, I cannot say, but I suspect the 

 former. The crow, after making a number of unsuccessful attempts 

 to pick the object of his solicitude out of the sea, had just succeeded 

 in getting hold of it with his bill, when I observed the heron suddenly 

 ascend close upon him, and, stretching out his long neck, strike the 

 crow on the back with his strong bill, and with such force that poor 

 hoodie had only time to cry out "caw" once before he fell plump into 

 the sea, right over head and ears. It seemed to me that the heron's 

 only motive in hovering about the crow was to get him into the 

 water; for no sooner was it done than he rose again a little higher, 

 and, doubling his neck again on his breast, pursued his way as 

 unconcernedly as if nothing particular had happened, leaving the 

 crow to get out of the briny dilemma he had unwittingly brought 

 himself into the best way he could. The crow, emerging to the sur- 

 face of the water, and having somewhat recovered from the effects of 

 the blow, and no doubt not feeling at all comfortable in his new 

 situation, began to sprawl furiously about, with the view of getting 

 out of the watery element. But, unfortunately for him, his feathers 

 had absorbed too much moisture, which for a time rendered his wings 

 entirely unfit for flight, so that he could not rise out of the water. 

 Although the sea was comparatively smooth, still there was what is 

 generally termed a rough jabble inshore ; and the crow, instead of 

 turning his head, as water-birds would have done, to the waves, 

 turned his tail ; the consequence of which was that each successive 

 wave tossed him over, and frequently submerged him for a time. 

 Growing wearied at length with exertion, he became quiet, and 

 resigned himself to the mercy of the waters. The wind and tide 

 being both in his favour, he eventually got landed on a rock at some 

 distance from the shore, surrounded by the sea, and, having scram- 

 bled to the top, he shook himself heartily, making the water fly from 

 his feathers in every direction. Marching about on the top of the 

 rock, the beams of the bright sun shining with unclouded lustre 

 upon him, he was, from his glistening appearance, an object of 

 curiosity to people passing on the shore at the time. He also 

 attracted the attention of a few of his own brethren, who, alighting on 

 the rock beside him, began to caw and bow to him, which made me 

 conclude that they were congratulating him on having escaped 



a watery grave. Thomas Edward. 



(To be continued). 



