Fourscore nests of such a bird on one
tree is a rarity which I would ride half as many miles to have a
sight of. Pray be sure to tell me in your next whose seat Cressi-hall
is, and near what town it lies.* I have often thought that those vast
extents of fens have never been sufficiently explored. If half a
dozen gentlemen, furnished with a good strength of water-spaniels,
were to beat them over for a week, they would certainly find more
species.
(* Cressi-hall is near Spalding, in Lincolnshire .)
There is no bird, I believe, whose manners I have studied more
than that of the caplimulgus (the goat-sucker), as it is a wonderful
and curious creature: but I have always found that though
sometimes it may chatter as it flies, as I know it does, yet in
general it utters its jarring note sitting on a bough; and I have for
many an half hour watched it as it sat with its under mandible
quivering, and particularly this summer. It perches usually on a
bare twig, with its head lower than its tail, in an attitude well
expressed by your draughtsman in the folio British Zoology.
Pages:
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122