LIFE IN FOREIGN LANDS. 
413 
Great Egret, who furnishes the well-known and costly 
plumes, hides itself amid the thickest reeds. The Bittern 
returns to the darkest recesses of the swamp, and their 
companion, the Night Heron, sits with ruffled feathers 
and closed eyes on the tops of the sycamores, often in the 
middle of a village ; now and then blinking up at the sun 
it peevishly half-closes its eyelids, as though annoyed 
that the great orb had not already retired beneath the 
horizon. The Little Egret and Squacco Heron steal 
quietly about the fields; the Buff-backed Heron (.Ardea 
bubulcus ) of Egypt walks about quite at its ease, neither 
fearing nor heeding the passing sportsman. Among the 
reeds one may see the Lesser Cormorant climbing up and 
down their stems, by its side the Black and White King¬ 
fisher, and possibly our own home species on its travels. 
Blue-throated and Reed Warblers, Pipits and Wagtails, 
and other small birds, are also seen. Gulls and Terns fly 
hither and thither overhead, uttering their harsh, wild 
screams; the Marsh Harrier glides noiselessly by; while 
Geese and White-eyed Pochards are feeding along the 
shore; and on the islands, numerous Sandpipers and 
other Waders are running to and fro. 
Swamp and marsh may really be said to be alive after 
sunset, when swarms of Geese, Ducks, Gulls, Terns, 
Cormorants, Herons, and other marsh-birds, which have 
been dispersed all over the lake during the day, retire to 
rest in their reedy beds. The uproar at this hour is 
terrific : screaming, croaking, quacking, drumming, 
whistling, and calling, resound on all sides; the clear, 
shrill notes of the different shore-birds make themselves 
heard amid the general hubbub, and the deep bass of 
the Pelican is also to be distinguished from the mass of 
sounds. Gradually quietude steals over the swamp : the 
