THE HEEON 77 



watched him eagerly through my field-glass. 



Time after time he transfixed with his long, 



powerful beak an unfortunate salmon-pink ; 



and once, among the pebbles in the shallows, he 



caught a big, fat frog that he immediately carried 



ofi to his mate. During his journeys to the nest 



I stretched my cramped limbs and altered the 



focus of my glasses in readiness for observing him 



feeding the mother-bird. At last he varied his 



course of action by relieving the brooding hen. 



She, much to my disappointment, flew away fco 



a distant part of the stream ; while I, refraining 



from following her, moved back to watch the 



sandpiper on the shingles under the beech- trees. 



The heron's nest forms the centre of a wide 



circle, within the limits of which — ^to marsh or 



leat or river or brook — his lines of flight are 



frequently varied even in. the breeding season. 



On being disturbed, he flaps away to such a 



distance that hours of careful stalking are often 



necessary before another glimpse of the gaunt, 



motionless bird can be obtained. I have noticed, 



however, that just as the bee, honey-gathering 



among the flowers, will, for a period, confine 



her attention to one species of plant, so the old 



heron, found '' frogging " in some stagnant 



upland pond, will generally, when surprised, 



make his way to another pond where frogs are 



plentiful ; or, if alarmed while fishing for unwary 



