About 1160, Owain Cyveiliog, one of the most distinguished Princes of Powis, flourished; he was a great warrior and an eminent poet; several specimens of his writings are given in the _Archaiology of Wales_, published by the late patriotic Owain Jones Myfyr. His poem called the _Hirlas Horn_ (the long blue horn,) is a masterpiece. It used to be the custom with the prince, when he had gained a battle, to call for the horn, filled with metheglin, or mead, and drink the contents at one draught, then sound it to show that there was no deception; each of his officers following his example. Mrs. Hemans has given a beautiful song, in Parry's second volume of _Welsh Melodies_, on the subject, concluding thus:-- "Fill higher the HIRLAS' forgetting not those Who shar'd its bright draught in the days which are fled! Tho' cold on their mountains the valiant repose, Their lot shall be lovely--renown to the dead! While harps in the hall of the feast shall be strung, While regal ERYRI[3] with snow shall be crown'd-- So long by the bard shall their battles be sung, And the heart of the hero shall burn at the sound: The free winds of Cambria shall swell with their name, And OWAIN's rich HIRLAS be fill'd to their fame!" [3] Snowdon. * * * * * THE NATURALIST. * * * * * BIRDS OF LONDON. It may be observed, that although many of the bird tribe seem to prefer the vicinity of the residence of man for their domicile, yet they, for the most part, avoid cities and large towns, for one, among other reasons, because there is no food for them. There are, notwithstanding, some remarkable exceptions to this. The _House Sparrow_ is to be seen, I believe, in every part of London. There is a rookery in the Tower; and another was, till lately, in Carlton Palace Gardens; but the trees having been cut down to make room for the improvements going on there, the rooks removed in (1827,) to some trees behind the houses in New-street, Spring-gardens. There was also, for many years, a rookery on the trees in the churchyard of St. Dunstan's in the East, a short distance from the Tower; the rooks for some years past deserted that spot, owing, it is believed, to the fire that occurred a few years ago at the old Custom House. But in 1827, they began again to build on those trees, which are not elm, but a species of plane. There was also, formerly, a rookery on some large elm trees in the College Garden behind the Ecclesiastical Court in Doctors' Commons, a curious anecdote concerning which has been recorded. The _Stork_, and some other of the tribe of waders, are occasionally also inhabitants of some of the continental towns.