It will be sufficient here to say, that every Gun has a certain fixed Quantity of Ammunition, with which it does the most Execution. I have seen Lectures in the Art of Gunnery, which come under the Science of Mechanics, and even the Author himself, though a Man of Learning and Abilities, seems to have been ignorant of the Art of charging a Gun, when he says, "If you put in a Gun, a Ball upon a Quantity of Powder as (1), it will throw the Ball to such a Distance; if you put in a Quantity as (2), it will throw it as far again." This seems to be a Mistake; because, if that was the Case, a Person would have nothing to do but to put Powder enough into his Gun, and have the Barrel made strong enough, and he need not fear killing at any Distance. As to the Recoil it would give, if the Gunner was a strong Country Gentleman, and a keen Sportsman, and an Englishman, it would be the least of his Thoughts whether it struck him a great Blow or a small one. But to the Point: There is no better Way of finding out the proper Charge of a Gun, than by the Report it gives. If there is too much Powder and too little Shot, the Report will be a kind of a deep Roar; if too little Powder and too much Shot, it will be an insignificant, short, narrow Smack; but if it is charged properly, the Report will be a smart, shrill Clap, something resembling Thunder. This is the Reason why the Report of a Sportsman's Gun is so different from that of a Field-Keeper's. The Field-Keeper has, or ought to have, no Shot in his Piece; the Sportsman's is properly loaded. In short, there is a Tone in the Barrel of a Gun, and the better the Temper of the Metal is, the more shrill will be the Report, and the farther it will do Execution. I have dwelt the longer upon this Subject, because a Gun is an ugly Weapon in the Hands of those who are either ignorant or careless, or both. * * * * * II. _That the Heron makes a Hole in the Bottom of her Nest, through which her Feet hang, when she sits upon her Eggs._ What seems to have led People into this Error, is, the Appearance which a Heron makes upon her Nest: You may sometimes see her Feet when she is sitting. Now it seems unaccountable, how a Bird should sit upon her Eggs on a Tree, and yet her Feet appear to a Spectator below. For any Person who takes Notice of a Bird sitting upon her Eggs, will find that she doubles them up under her, and that they are hid among her Feathers and the Eggs; so that if this is the Case, there can be no other Way of seeing her Feet, but by a Hole through the Bottom of the Nest. But this is not the Case with the Heron, nor the Bittern, another Bird resembling the Heron. When these Birds sit upon their Nests, their Legs lie straight out behind them, in a Line parallel to the Plain of the Horizon, in the same Posture as when they fly. This accounts for the Phoenomenon of the Feet appearing on the outside of the Nest.