THE BIRDS OF LINCOLNSHIRE IN l6l2. 365 



The Puffin 14 we compare, which coming to the dish, 

 Nice palates hardly judge, if it be flesh or fish 15 . 



" But wherefore should I stand upon such toys as these, 

 That have so goodly fowls, the wand'ring eye to please. 

 Here in my vaster pools, as white as snow or milk, 

 (In water black as Styx,) swims the Wild 16 Swan, the like 16 , 

 Of Hollanders so term'd, no niggard of his breath, 

 (As poets say of swans, who only sing in death) 

 But oft as other birds, is heard his tunes to roat, 

 Which like a trumpet comes, from his long arched throat 17 , 

 And tow'rds this wat'ry kind, about the flashes brim, 

 Some cloven-footed are, by nature not to swim. 

 There stalks the stately Crane 18 , as tho' he march'd in war, 

 By him that hath the Hern 19 , which (by the fishy car) 

 Can fetch with their long necks, out of the rush and reed, 

 Snigs 20 , fry, and yellow frogs, whereon they often feed : 

 And under them again, (that water never take, 

 But by some ditches' side, or little shallow lake 

 Lie dabbling night and day) the palate-pleasing Snite 21 , 

 The Bidcock 22 , and like them the Redshank 23 , that delight 

 Together still to be, in some small reedy bed, 

 In which these little fowls in summer's time were bred. 

 The buzzing Bitter 24 sits, which through his hollow bill 

 A sudden bellowing sends, which many times doth fill 

 The neighbouring marsh with noise, as though a bull did roar ; 

 But scarcely have I yet recited half my store : 

 And with my wondrous flocks of Wild-Geese 25 come I then, 

 Which look as though alone they peopled all the fen, 



u Fratercula arctica (L.). 



15 Several species of water-fowl, supposed to feed exclusively on fish, are per- 

 mitted to be eaten by Catholics on their maigre days. — W.Y. 



16 Elk and Hooper, names of the Wild Swan, Cygnus ferns. — W.Y. 



17 See Dr. Latham and Mr. Yarrell's papers in the ' Transactions of the Linnean 

 Society,' vols, iv., xvi., and xvii., on the convoluted wind-pipes of Wild Swans. — W.Y. 



18 Grits communis Bechst. 



19 Ardea cinerea L. 



20 Small eels.— W.Y. 



21 Snite or Snipe, Gallinago ccelesiis (Frenzel). 



22 Bidcock and Bilcock, old names for the Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus L. 



23 Tetanus calidris L. 



24 Bitter or Bittern, Botaurus stellaris (L. ). The generic name is derived from 

 Bos and Taurus, in reference to the bull-like roar. — W.Y. 



25 The particular species is doubtful. — W.Y. 



Dec. 1886. b 2 



