WADING BIRDS. 315

other cases. “A gentleman being on a shooting excursion,
accompanied by a small spaniel, observed a heron wading
a little above a waterfall. He fired—wounded it—and sent
his dog into the stream to bring it to land. As soon as the
dog had come within its reach, the heron drew back its
head, and with all its force, struck him in the ribs with its
bill. The gentleman again fired, and killed the heron; but
it had well revenged itself: both dog and heron floated dead
together, down the foaming waterfall.” The Heron nests on
the tops of high trees and lives in companies.
The Bittern. The Bittern is remarkable for its loud booming
cry which has some resemblance to the bellowing of a bull,
and for its spiral flight which it pursues to a great altitude
The Stork. Storks are found in different parts of Europe,
Asia and Africa. In Holland, and in some other countries,
they live in a state of semi-domestication, encouraged by the
people, and building nests upon the roofs of their houses.
They feed on rats, mice, frogs, and other vermin, and
render the Hollander good service by keeping down the
numbers of such pests. In the East they act as scavengers,
and for this reason are as much encouraged by the people.
“A recent visitor to Constantinople,” says Mr. Wood, “remarks
that the very Storks seemed to have become Ottoman, for
they sat on the tops of the houses, looking staid and solemn,
as becomes the Oriental character, and managed their beaks
just as if they were pipes. It is true that they wore no
turbans, but each of them appeared to have left a turban of
preposterous dimensions, v7z., his nest, on the roof of a house
close by.” The Stork is easily tamed and sometimes shows
considerable intelligence.
The Jealousy The following illustration which we take from
of the Stork. the “ Percy Anecdotes” shows that the Stork shares
with other birds the feeling of jealousy. “In Smyrna there
are a great number of storks, who build their nests and hatch
their young very regularly. The inhabitants, in order to divert