212
Antwerp, Belgium.
1897.
Aug.5-7.
(No. 2). Pond.
  I was both surprised and disappointed at finding no un-
reclaimed bogs or marshes, the nearest approach to them being
a few narrow strips of swampy ground bordering shallow pools
or neglected canals, and covered with dense growths of rushes
intermingled with various kinds of tall wild plants some of
which bore yellow or pinkish flowers. No one of these natural
reed beds seemed to me extensive or retired enough to shelter
Bitterns but I saw a few Herons (Ardea cinerea) standing erect
and motionless along the ditches and now and then a big White
Stork walking slowly over the smooth turf of the pastures near,
or even actually among, herds of cows. I also saw a Stork's
nest made of coarse twigs much after the manner of an Osprey's
nest and placed in a garden, within a few rods of a house, on
a cart-wheel at the top of a pole, twenty feet or so above the
ground. Two young Storks, fully feathered and apparently
nearly ready to fly, were siting close together in this nest.
  By far the most numerous and characteristic birds of these
meadow pastures were the Lapwings. Scarce a field but had its
flock and many of the flocks contained from fifty to one hun-
dred individuals each. Scattered about over wide areas, often
intermingled with the grazing cattle, each bird standing