so 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[April 1, 1S69. 



inviting a friend to join him at dinner, be goes to 

 his own particular pool, like an old gourmand to 

 his club, and keeps the best of everything to 

 himself. 



We have watched him on the rocky weed-covered 

 shore of Northumberland, on the shining sands of 

 Lancashire, and on the dreary mud-flats of the 

 Sussex harbours, and have found him always the 

 same ; shy and suspicious, even where seldom 

 disturbed, he seems to have a wonderful eye to 

 danger, and we almost believe can distinguish 

 a gun from a stick or an umbrella. 



Now and then upon a rocky coast, we have 

 stalked him under cover of a friendly boulder, and 

 while our heart beat loud with the rapid exertion 

 and excitement, we have shot him just as he had 

 detected our head above the rock. And what a 

 triumph have we felt in standing over his prostrate 

 form, and smoothing his expansive wings, feeling in 

 that moment a sufficient reward for having crawled 

 on hands and knees, perhaps three hundred yards of 

 treacherous ground, slipping over sea-weed, and 

 through salt-water pools. But it was never thus on 

 the mud flats ; there no friendly barrier intervened 

 to screen our approach, and we could only advance 

 near enough to be just out of shot, when the large 

 wings were unfolded, and we were left to stand and 

 gaze wistfully after the coveted prize. Now and 

 then at early dawn, we have come suddenly upon a 

 Heron while busily employed under the steep bank 

 of a brook, and have thus been enabled to knock 

 him down with snipe shot before he could get out 

 of range. It was ludicrous to observe the surprise 

 of the bird when he first became aware of our 

 presence, and with a hoarse croak clumsily 

 endeavoured to get away. On one occasion, 

 accompanied by a red setter, we were stalking a 

 Heron, when the dog, over-anxious, ran forward 

 and attracted the attention of the bird, which 

 immediately took wing ; instead of flying away, 

 however, he hovered over the dog, looking down at 

 him nke a hawk. We crouched down and gave a 

 low whistle, and the dog coming back, actually 

 brought up the Heron within shot, when we fired 

 and killed him. The bird seemed to follow every 

 movement of the dog, and was so intently eying him, 

 that he never saw us until the gun was raised ; he 

 then turned at once to make off, but too late. 



On the coast, the Heron feeds at low water 

 during the day, and in unfrequented marshes he 

 may also be caught fishing in broad daylight ; but 

 when compelled to get his living at reservoirs, 

 ponds, and rivers, which are oftencr visited by his 

 enemy, man, he prefers to come just before day- 

 break or after dusk. In autumn, when the brooks 

 run dry, we have frequently noticed the impressions 

 of his long toes, visible for miles on the soft mud, 

 showing the great extent of ground traversed in his 

 patient search for food. Pish, frogs, mussels, and 



even water-rats, are all included in the Heron's bill 

 of fare. He will take young water-fowl too from 

 the nest, and after pinching them all over in his 

 formidable bill, and holding them under water till 

 they have become well saturated, he throws up his 

 head, opens his mandibles, and the " Moorhen 

 souche " disappears. 



Some years ago we paid a visit in the month of May 

 to a certain reservoir in Yorkshire, where the 

 Pochard {Anas ferina) was known to have bred, 

 our object being to ascertain whether this duck was 

 then nesting there, and to learn what other fowl were 

 on the water. We might say a good deal of that 

 pleasant excursion, but must confine our attention 

 for the present to the Heron. At one end of the 

 reservoir is, or was, a thick bed of willows, extend- 

 ing out some distance from the shore. The water 

 at this spot is shallow, with a muddy bottom. 

 Coots and Moorhens were numerous and noisy, 

 swimming about amongst the willows, and collect- 

 ing materials for their nests. We lay upon the 

 grass at the edge of the water, peering quietly 

 through the willows, and learnt a good deal of the 

 private life of these water-fowl. While we were 

 gazing, a Heron, which must have flown unuoticed 

 up the water, dropped suddenly in the shallow, 

 within twenty yards of our ambush. Here was an 

 opportunity for observation : scarcely venturing to 

 breathe, Ave watched with interest every motion of 

 the great grey bird. His long black crest and 

 pendent breast feathers showed him to be fully 

 adult, and we thought at the time we had seldom 

 seen a Heron in finer plumage. With head and 

 neck erect, he took a cautious glance all round, as if 

 to satisfy himself that he was unobserved, and 

 apparently assured, he then looked down at the 

 water ; for some minutes he never altered his 

 position, till at length, bending slowly and gracefully 

 forward, he suddenly struck the water with his bill, 

 and recovered a small fish. A pinch, a toss of the 

 head, and it had disappeared down his throat. He 

 then drew himself together with apparent satisfac- 

 tion, wiped his bill upon his long breast plumes, 

 and, slightly altering his position, prepared, as an 

 angler would say, to make another " cast." At this 

 moment we incautiously moved a little to one side 

 to avoid a willow bough and obtain a better view, 

 when his quick eye instautly detected the move- 

 ment, and in another second he was flying down the 

 water in the direction whence he had come. 



There are few sights more gratifying to a natu- 

 ralist than a heronry. We have had the privilege of 

 visiting three : one at Walton Hall, Yorkshire, the 

 scat of the late Charles Waterton ; one at Mdton, 

 near Peterborough, belonging to the Hon. George 

 Pitzwilliam ; and one at Wanstead, the property of 

 Lord Cowley. Did space permit, we might give a 

 detailed and interesting account of all we saw on 

 these occasions, but we can do no more than offer a 



